The role of Commercial Research in Neonatal stays.

I wanna get some eyes on this as the more parents in the premature or neonatal community that can respond, the better!

I mentioned months ago that I've volunteered myself to help out with the Neonatal Research Database via Imperial College London.

I jumped on a zoom call today with one of the leading professors in Neonatal research, and a clinical psychologist to discuss the place of research on Neonatal stays. The main theme of the discussion was the role/place of commercial research into Neonatal stays and importantly, what parents reactions would be if asked about their participation, or their babies at least.

Initially, as soon as I heard the word commercial, my guard was up;

'Someone trying to make a few quid using your tiny fragile babies data, not for me.'

But as soon as the professor repositioned it as;

'companies looking to make improvements to their products such as formula milk, neonatal equipment etc.'

it put a very different spin on things. My initial heavily guarded 'no' went to a very open 'yes'. In my opinion, and those of you reading this will likely know my (Eliza & Margot's) Neonatal stories - anything that improved the outcomes for babies and families of the future to visit the NICU could only be a good thing.

I added the caveat that it's essential to explain what the research/data is for, and what the desired outcome is, as that will likely make it much easier for parents to decide. I also added the person delivering that message needs to be considered. If it's someone who's face you've never before seen, or a consultant that speaks to you once a week, you're less likely to be open, but if its your own nurse, or at the very least one of your nursing team that you're familiar with - it's likely to be easier to say yes.

Obviously it's easy for me, 8 and 6 years removed from being tied to a neonatal intensive care unit to say 'yeah crack on it's for the better' but at the time, my head was completely fried. It probably still is to some degree from the trauma. But when you're in the mixer, clarity of thought is a long forgotten luxury from the past.

For any of you that have had any experience of a NICU stay, pre-term or otherwise, I'd be really grateful to hear your opinion on this - and please do share it to anyone that you know who may be inclined to opine! ??