• Parents are welcome to be with their baby/babies anytime, day or night  

• Siblings under 16 years are welcome to visit with parents, and should remain supervised (no under 16s who are not siblings)

• Other visitors may visit between 2pm and 7pm.

• A maximum of 2 visitors around the bed space, one of these being a parent of the baby (to ensure security of the baby)

• Please ensure you wash your hands with soap and water when entering the clinical areas

• We ask visitors to please leave their coats in the main entrance corridor 

• If you have symptoms of cold, cough, or are feeling in anyway unwell, you must not visit in line with the guidance of Trust's Infection Control Policy

• If you have experienced any symptoms of diarrhoea or vomiting, please stay home for 48 hours after the last episode before you visit the unit

Pods or nests

Pillows, duvets or thick heavy bedding

Cot bumpers

Hammocks

Sleep positioners

You can also get in touch with Frankie our Neonatal Clinical Psychologist who works on the ward once per week to support families. We also have support from the specialist Mental Health Midwife, Suzy, who can visit you on the unit. Alternatively, you can speak to Ruth, our hospital chaplain. The chaplaincy is there to offer support to anyone that needs it. You do not need to be religious; the chaplains will support those of any faith and are bond to strict confidentiality. They can either provide a listening ear or direct you to other support both within and outside the hospital. 

For more information on the hospital Chaplaincy and other support, please ask a member of staff.

• Support us at future neonatal events
  We often put on events throughout the year to help raise money for the unit, as well as events to just catch up with previous Neonatal families. Please feel free to join us or help us in any fundraising efforts. We will posts events on here as well as on our social media channels
• Support our JustGiving page
  We have a JustGiving page which can be found in our Charity and Fundraising section of this site. We utilise our JustGiving page for fundraising for events. However, you are also welcome to donate funds on here whenever you wish to
• Follow us on Social Media
  Please feel free to follow us on our social media channels. We often post on here if we need support or donations to help improve the unit for future families
• Neonatal Unit Amazon Wishlist
  If you would like to buy something for the unit, we have an Amazon Wishlist. This contains a few things that we would love to receive 

If you haven't been set up with vCreate once admitted, please do ask a member of staff to organise this for you

• Follow up appointments 
• Having visitors 
• Going out and about
• Feeling less isolated
• Bonding with your baby
• Making routines
• Sleeping
• Family Life

• GP - if your baby seems unwell or you have any questions about medication or specialist milk, please contact your GP. 
• Children's Outpatient Department - 01256 314760 - please contact the Children's Outpatient Department if you have any questions regarding follow-up appointments or tests.
• Emergency Department - if your baby is unwell and it is an emergency, please go straight to your closest Emergency Department 

The fortifier may be continued beyond discharge in 4-6 feeds per day until your baby is 40-48 weeks gestation depending on their growth. 

The infant feeding team will support you during your time on the ward and once you’re home with making decisions around feeding and when to stop the fortifier.

Dr Jummy Awoseylia - Neonatal Lead

Dr Maninder Bal - Neonatal Lead

Dr Alistair Ewing - Neonatal Lead

Dr Nick Ward - Paediatric Medical Director

Dr Tara Brown

Dr Muhammed Yaqub

Dr Julia Shaw

Dr Ed Hind

Dr Fiona McHugh

Dr Kishani Wijiwardena

Dr Alex Nowak

Dr Ed Collier

Keep track of all your baby's outpatient appointments and letters by downloading HHFT Patient Hub.

Please supply us with your registration number when your baby is admitted. We can then enable automatic recognition by the car park exit barriers.

In some circumstances, Sophie's Legacy can support struggling families with costs for travel and extra items needed while a baby is in hospital. Please ask your neonatal team for advice if this applies to you.

CONFIDENTIALITY AND HEADPHONES

We would like to protect the confidentiality of our families and respectfully ask if you can wear your own, or hospital provided headphones, to use with your mobile phone, while other babies are being discussed nearby. If you are not directly caring for your baby, you may prefer to take a short break from the nursery and we can call you when finished. Please do not ask the staff to talk to you about any other babies on the unit.

The Neonatal Network in the South East consists of the Thames Valley and Wessex Operational Delivery Network and the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Operational Delivery Network. The two combined networks cover 27 units. They focus on coordinating patient pathways between hospitals over a wide area to ensure access to specialist resources and expertise.