Necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) is a life-threatening gut disease in babies born early. Feeding preterm babies their own mother's milk prevents NEC. Fewer babies in the East Midlands get their own mother's milk than the national average, and more babies get NEC. The East Midlands Neonatal Operational Delivery Network (EMNODN) has created a care bundle to increase own mothers' milk feeding and reduce rates of NEC among babies born more than 8 weeks early, who are at the greatest risk of NEC. The care bundle describes the support that parents can expect to receive to help mothers feed their breastmilk to their babies. It also provides guidelines to help neonatal units ensure babies receive optimum nutritional care. This study will find whether this bundle is effective in helping more babies receive their own mothers' milk and in reducing NEC. It will also identify how well the bundle was introduced and which parts of the bundle were most helpful. The study team will answer these questions by collecting and studying data from babies' medical records.
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AI-rewrites the medical criteria so a patient or caregiver can understand them. Always confirm with the trial site.
Receiving any own mother's milk at discharge
Timeframe: Evaluation phase (01/23-09/23) compared to pre-implementation phase (01/16-08/22)
Receiving any own mother's milk on day 14 of life
Timeframe: Evaluation phase (01/23-09/23) compared to pre-implementation phase (01/16-08/22)
Severe NEC requiring surgery or resulting in death
Timeframe: Evaluation phase (01/23-09/23) compared to pre-implementation phase (01/16-08/22)