Helping parents 'keep in touch' with their babies in the neonatal unit: evaluation of the mylittleone digital solution

Setting the scene: One in every eight infants requires some form of care in a neonatal unit. While the survival and long-term prospects of infants are enhanced by admission, the enforced separation of the mother and baby may have psychological consequences for both. In this report we present findings from an evaluation of a new digital solution designed to help parents ‘keep in touch’ with their infants when they are physically separated from them. Currently deployed in a neonatal unit in NHS Fife, the intervention, mylittleone, involves cameras being placed over incubators which transmit real-time images of each baby wirelessly to a coupled tablet device kept by the mother in the post-natal care environment. The study sought to explore parents’ and professionals’ views of the technology and make recommendations for its future development, deployment and evaluation.