Neonatal home care

What is home care?

Home care (caring for a premature baby at home) involves closely working with nurses and doctors from the neonatal unit to manage tube feeding, medication administration and other personalised treatments such as oxygen therapy.
Premature babies can be cared for at home when they reach an age that is at least six weeks before their original due date.
When your baby no longer needs home care and you feel confident enough, you’ll transition to healthcare services in your municipality.
The framework for home care can vary from one unit to another.
Ask about how this service is organised in the actual unit where your child is placed.

Research supports the experience that for the vast majority of parents, home care offers a safe, secure transition from the neonatal unit to home, and provides a calm environment to help your baby nurse independently from the breast or bottle.

What should you be prepared for as a father?

The decision to opt for home care is always yours as a family, provided your child meets the necessary criteria.
During your baby’s hospital stay, you’ll gradually become more confident, as a father, in understanding and interpreting your child’s signals and needs.
Before making the decision to leave the hospital and receive home care, you should feel comfortable and ready.

As parents, you should strive to provide the best environment for your child to continue developing, learning to eat, processing sensory information and boosting their immune system.
It’s also important that you help each other to organise your daily routine so that your baby receives as much skin-to-skin contact and time to get to know you both as possible, as well as optimal conditions for learning to eat.
Consider arranging support from your network before you’re discharged from hospital, as this can provide comfort and ease as you settle into family life at home.

After a long hospital stay, it can be a big adjustment coming home to chores like vacuuming, laundry and grocery shopping.
It might take a while to find your family’s new routines and feel like you are ‘back home’.

Becoming parents of a premature baby can be challenging in many ways.
You know your partner best and you’re each other’s greatest support.
Help each other to make space for your individual and shared feelings and needs.
Don’t forget that it’s important to reach out for help if things start to feel overwhelming – and take care of yourself too.

Link to the podcast episode: Family life after leaving the hospital