Media Release
Date: 4 March 2025
RUH introduces at-home feeding for premature babies
Premature babies being cared for at the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust’s neonatal care unit are now getting to go home earlier thanks to the introduction of at-home tube feeding.
The RUH’s Dyson Centre for Neonatal Care is one of only four units in the south west that have introduced the new initiative, which means parents can feed their babies through tubes at home, supported by the hospital’s outreach nurses.
Katy Lamin and Jake Eades from Keynsham are the first parents supported by the RUH to provide their baby Hallie with nasogastric feeding.
Katy said: “Being able to go home had a really positive impact on my mental health, after spending a few weeks in hospital.
“Going home made the transition from nasogastric feeding to breastfeeding much easier because we were able to feel comfortable in our own environment and welcome Hallie into her new home earlier.
“The support we’ve received from everyone at the RUH’s neonatal unit and the outreach nurses has been fantastic and so helpful.”
Mary Spence, Neonatal Outreach Nurse at the RUH’s Dyson Centre for Neonatal Care, said: “I’m delighted that we were able to get Hallie and her parents back home as soon as possible.
“Not all of the babies we care for will be able to have at-home tube feeding, but for those that can, it means we can reduce their length of stay at the RUH and get them back to the comforts of their own home as soon as possible.
“I know how pleased Katy and Jake were to get Hallie home and this will be the first of many families we can support in this way.”
Nasogastric feeding is for babies who are unable to take in enough milk on their own. In these situations, babies are given milk through a small tube, which passes through the baby’s nose, down the back of their throat and directly into their stomach. The tube is taped to the side of their face, near to their nose. The milk is carefully transferred into the feeding tube by a syringe.
