Govt releases guidelines to improve newborn health

New Delhi: Family Participatory Care (FPC) guidelines have been released by the government for improving health of babies in special newborn care units (SNCUs) across the country.

FPC has emerged as an important concept of health care which provides for partnership between health care staff and families in care of sick newborns.

The guidelines will serve as a guiding document for those intending to introduce FPC in their facility as it provides details of infrastructure, training, role of health care providers and steps in the operationalisation of FPC in the newborn care unit, a statement issued by the health ministry said today.

"The guidelines will be shared with the states for implementation so that the quality of care being provided in the SNCUs across the country gets improved," the statement said.

Sick and newborn are highly vulnerable and require careful nurturing in order to survive the neonatal period and first year of life.

Under the National Health Mission, more than 700 state- of-the art SNCUs have been established across the country to provide 24X7 comprehensive care to newborns by dedicated trained staff, the statement said.

In recent years, health experts have found that if parents are trained during the stay of their babies in hospital to provide supportive care to sick newborns, it helps in not only improving survival of babies after discharge but also provides for psycho-social and developmental needs of the newborn.