Karin Cadwell and Anna Blair will travel to the seaside town of Grange Over Sands in the southern UK this April to join colleagues Louise Bastarache, Julie Grady, Barbara O’Connor, Ellie Mulpeter, and Jeni Stevens to present at three exciting conferences: the Maternal and Infant Nutrition and Nurture Unit (MAINN) Conference, the Separation and Closeness Experiences in the Neonatal Environment (SCENE) Symposium, and the International Normal Labour and Birth Research Conference, all hosted by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan).

The Maternal and Infant Nutrition and Nurture Unit (MAINN) Conference – April 19-21

The team will be presenting at the MAINN Conference on four areas including the nine stages in the NICU, overcoming challenges in implementing skin-to-skin in the first hour, the environmental impact of infant formula production, and the relationship between availability of childhood obesity and breastfeeding support.

The team will also exhibit the following posters: Applying the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative (WBTI) Tool to States, Territories and the District of Colombia in the United States and The 500 calorie rule for lactation – myth or reality?

The Separation and Closeness Experiences in the Neonatal Environment (SCENE) Symposium – April 22

Karin Cadwell will be presenting on behalf of Kajsa Brimdyr on the 9 stages of skin-to-skin contact for premature infants. The research paper which the presentation is based upon is Connecting the dots between fetal, premature and full-term behaviour while in skin-to-skin contact: The nine stages of instinctive behaviour.

After a keynote presentation by Dr. Anna Axelin on Parent-infant closeness in NICUs in 2033, members have been invited to collaboratively brainstorm new research priorities and methods looking toward the future of NICU care with a focus on parental mental health, infant feeding, technology & innovation, space and place, and leadership/staff.

International Labour and Birth Research Conference – April 24-26

The overarching aim of the conference series is to enable women and birthing people who want a spontaneous labour and birth to access the latest evidence, and to ensure that they are supported by competent, caring staff who can work seamlessly together to optimize respectful care and safe outcomes around the world. (Formerly the International Nomal Labour and Birth Research Conference, the leadership removed the word “normal” from the title this year based on feedback about the nuanced meaning of the term in the UK.) This year’s conference theme is, “Evidence, knowledge and creativity; optimizing safety and personalization in maternity care”.

Karin Cadwell will be sharing Kajsa Brimdyr’s work on the benefits of skin-to-skin contact in premature infants, which outlines the evidence and knowledge behind the benefits of the practice, and the creativity of hospitals that have made it possible for their families to practice skin-to-skin in the NICU.