P23 Antenatal support for parents who are expecting a baby with a congenital heart disease

Abstract

Introduction When parents are expecting a baby they receive support and information to help them prepare for the delivery and arrival of the baby. However when their baby receives antrenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease (CHD) it fall outside the normal spectrum of pregnancy and often the expected pathway post-delivery changes. Background The Brompton Centre for Fetal Cardiology offers support to families from the time of antenatal diagnosis of CHD with the aim of improving the quality of care offered. Based on feedback from parents, after visiting individually the Hospital, the CNSF’s felt that parents are more likely to benefit from group experience. The CNSF’s offer antenatal support sessions once a month at Royal Brompton Hospital, founded by the Brompton Fountain charity, where parents speakers along with the nurses offer their time voluntarily. This include debrief with an introduction of the service is provided, an explanation of the hospital facilities and what support is offered. Following this, a visit to the children’s ward and intensive care is offered. This allows closer contact with the environment, medical equipment and the type of bed space their baby will be expected to be cared for in during their admission. After the visit mothers, who are interested in breast feeding, are offered a session with the Breastfeeding team to clarify how they can be supported whilst their baby is recovering. Method A retrospective observational survey was performed at the end of the Antenatal support sessions at Royal Brompton Hospital. Parents expressed their observations regarding their likes, dislikes and suggested changes to the service. Results Between June 2014 and June 2015 46 pregnant women and their partners, relatives and friends attended the support sessions. In this period 100% satisfaction of the antenatal support sessions was demonstrated. Conclusions Participants expressed satisfaction of the current service. Further research to identify that the information given during the antenatal support sessions is in accordance with parents experiences, after their child is born, would be beneficial. Amendments to the current survey are being considered to identify further elements of the service that could benefit from improvement.