G562(P) Lifestart resuscitation platform to enable deferred cord clamping in preterm infants <32 weeks

Aims Randomised controlled trials have demonstrated improved survival with deferred cord clamping (DCC) at preterm birth. We adopted the use of Lifestart trolley (LS) in preterm deliveries at our centre in March 2013 to enable stabilisation of babies with an intact umbilical cord. Initial compliance with our guideline was poor. A quality improvement project was undertaken with the aim of increasing LS use at delivery in preterm babies with 2 minutes DCC. Methods A quality improvement programme from April 2018- April 2019 was undertaken using Plan, See, Do, Act (PDSA) cycles. Data were reviewed from 113 consecutive preterm ( Results The use of Lifestart was noted to increase progressively through the period to almost 80% in April 2019. Of those infants eligible, the rate of DCC also showed a progressive increase from 16% in the first three months to 80% in the April 2019 (table 1). This is in marked contrast to national data collected from Badgernet, which shows only 5% of preterm babies born before 32 weeks gestation have a documented period of DCC of 60 seconds or more. Conclusions DCC at preterm birth increases survival. Despite this knowledge, there is limited implementation of this intervention across UK. By undertaking regular PDSA cycles we have changed our practice of management at preterm deliveries. The learning from the project enabled us to produce an instructional video (Available at http://bit.ly/LWHLifeStart) to support its use in our practise.