Home from neonatal intensive care

The child health clinic (helsestasjonen)

When you are discharged, the child health clinic will receive a report from the nurse and a discharge summary from the doctor at the neonatal intensive care unit. You can contact the child health clinic if you experience any breastfeeding difficulties after you return home.

Here you can find information about how parents can become digitally active on behalf of their child and give full consent (Helsenorge.no).

We recommend giving full consent. This allows the child health clinic to send appointment reminders, parents to contact the clinic directly, and the clinic to contact parents. Both parents will then receive all messages and information about the services offered by the child health clinic.

The child health clinic provides breastfeeding guidance and advice on nutrition. The clinic can offer parenting guidance, additional conversations and follow-up support when needed.

Here is a link to more information about the child health clinic (Helsenorge.no).

Here you can find helpful advice about breastfeeding and nutrition: Infant food and breastfeeding - Helsenorge

Read about vitamins, iron supplements and nutrition during the first year of life for children with a birth weight below 2.5 kg

Some families go home after discharge and have completed all treatment with us, while others receive follow-up care through NAST (the Neonatal Unit’s community nursing service).

If your baby is followed up by NAST, you have open return access. This means you can contact the nurse in charge at the neonatal intensive care unit at any time, 24 hours a day.

If your baby is not followed up by NAST, contact your GP (general practitioner) if your baby becomes ill. Outside your GP’s opening hours, contact the out-of-hours medical service.

Call the out-of-hours medical service on 116 117 if you need urgent help with illness or injuries. They will help you assess whether you need to attend the out-of-hours clinic. They can also provide advice and guidance over the phone.

If it is a life-threatening situation, call 113.

Rhinovirus, RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) and influenza viruses do not usually cause serious illness in adults and older children. However, premature babies and other children who have been ill during the neonatal period can become seriously ill from these viruses.

It is therefore important to take precautions:

• Avoid visits from children and adults who are ill or have a cold.
• Avoid taking your baby to places with an increased risk of infection, such as shopping centres and large gatherings.

Even if you take precautions, you may still become ill. You are particularly at risk during the winter season if there are siblings attending nursery or school. If parents or siblings become ill, we recommend following advice on how to avoid passing the infection on to others.

Coughing habits

• Avoid coughing or sneezing directly towards others.
• Try to cough or sneeze into a tissue, which should be thrown away afterwards, or into the crook of your elbow if a tissue is not available.
• Practise hand hygiene after any contact with respiratory secretions or objects that may be contaminated with them.

Wash your hands

• Good hand hygiene is important to prevent becoming infected or passing infections on to others. Using disposable tissues and washing your hands after blowing your nose or coughing into your hands are important measures.
• Good hand hygiene is important for everyone in the household. Wash your hands with soap and water, or use alcohol-based hand sanitiser.

If the mother is breastfeeding, antibodies are transferred through breast milk and help protect the baby. The mother can therefore spend time with the baby’s siblings as normal. Some parents may choose to use a face mask to protect the newborn baby. You should decide what feels right for your family.

The most important thing is prevention. Read more: Influenza - Helsenorge

Influenza and whooping cough vaccines

The influenza vaccine is recommended for premature babies, especially children born before 32 weeks of pregnancy, from 6 months to 5 years of age. Both parents are also recommended to have the influenza vaccine.

If you choose to share a bed with your baby, you should follow these recommendations:

• Parents should not smoke or use snus (smokeless tobacco)
• The baby was not born prematurely
• The parents should not be under the influence of alcohol, other drugs, or sedative medications
• The parents’ bed is wide and has a firm mattress
• The baby should have its own small, light baby duvet (avoid pillows and similar items)
• Make sure the baby cannot roll out of the bed or fall into a gap
• The infant must not sleep on their stomach on the mother’s (or father’s) chest while the parent is asleep. The increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome associated with prone sleeping also applies in this situation

Source: The Norwegian SIDS and Stillbirth Association.

Here you can watch a video about safe co-sleeping with newborns.

All infants, and especially premature babies, have sensitive mucous membranes in their airways and lungs. They are therefore more vulnerable to respiratory illnesses such as bronchiolitis and pneumonia.

Tobacco smoke irritates the airways and should be avoided in all areas where the child spends time. Nicotine from snus (smokeless tobacco) passes into breast milk.

If you are unable to stop using tobacco, it is best to smoke or use snus immediately after breastfeeding, when the breast is empty. This allows as much nicotine as possible to leave the body before new milk is produced for the next feeding.

Here you can find helpful advice about safety for newborns and infants:

Safety for newborns and young children - Helsenorge

It is recommended that premature babies receive the vaccines included in the national immunisation programme. The vaccines are given at the usual time, according to chronological age. It is important that children receive these vaccines to prevent infection. Vaccinations are given at the child health clinic (helsestasjonen).

Premature babies have an increased risk of hospital admission due to influenza. The risk is highest for children born before 32 weeks of pregnancy. Premature babies are recommended to receive an annual influenza vaccine from 6 months of age (chronological age) up to 5 years.

Children with a birth weight above 1000 grams or born at 28 weeks’ gestation or later, and who have had an uncomplicated course during the neonatal period, are followed up with routine consultations at the child health clinic (helsestasjonen) in their local municipality.

Children with a birth weight below 1000 grams or born before 28 weeks’ gestation are often offered more frequent consultations with the public health nurse and doctor at the child health clinic. Many municipalities have specialist child health clinics with additional focus on premature babies.

In addition, children with a birth weight below 1000 grams are followed up at the hospital paediatric outpatient clinic according to the following schedule:

1–2 months after discharge

Appointment at the paediatric outpatient clinic with a consultant neonatologist from the neonatal intensive care unit together with a physiotherapist. A nurse from NAST and a clinical dietitian, or other relevant professionals, are often also involved.

3 months corrected age

Appointment at the paediatric outpatient clinic with a consultant neonatologist and assessment using tools such as HINE and GMA.

6 months corrected age

Appointment with a doctor at the paediatric outpatient clinic.

12 months corrected age

Appointment with a doctor at the paediatric outpatient clinic.

3 years chronological age

5 years chronological age

Beyond this, the child may receive further follow-up based on an individual assessment.