This is an excerpt of a blog originally published on Evidently Cochrane.
In the first of two blogs on care of the mechanically ventilated neonate, paediatrician and Cochrane Fellow Rufaro Ndokera looks at Cochrane evidence on optimal positioning and neonatal nurse Stephanie Wiseman gives her reflections from practice.
For the new and fragile lives that we come across working in a neonatal unit, every small decision and element of care can have a meaningful effect on outcomes, both immediate and longer term.
The positioning of well, term babies at home has been well studied. Clear population-wide advice via the Back to Sleep campaign (now known as Safe to Sleep) as a way of reducing sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is now everyday practice. With preterm neonates, position has also been widely considered, with regards to development, comfort and stress but also with regards to ventilation and oxygenation. The number of possible infant positions is extensive and a list of them sounds a bit like the lyrics to the hokey cokey.