Management of the vulnerable baby on the postnatal ward and transitional care unit

Abstract

Many guidelines for the prevention and management of neonatal hypoglycaemia focus on the sick infant admitted to the intensive care unit and pay scant attention to what is known about normal neonatal physiology. It is questionable whether treatment guidelines for low blood glucose levels for sick infants can be applied to a population of well infants on the postnatal ward, especially if such guidelines interfere with the establishment of breastfeeding, which has well recognised long and short term health benefits for mother and baby. What then of the baby who is at risk of abnormal postnatal adaptation, but is not unwell? Can the complications which occur in such infants, such as hypoglycaemia, be safely managed without resorting to admission to a baby unit? Can such vulnerable infants be safely managed in an environment that promotes mother and baby bonding and facilitates breastfeeding?