Neonatal Follow-Up Program

Who are We

The Neonatal Follow-up Program (NFUP) was started in 1983 to collect audit information about quality of survival of categories of high risk infants in the Province of British Columbia. Since then, the ability of the NFUP to expand and move forward is a

result of the exceptional work and dedication of all our team members and their willingness to embrace change. The change has included new staff and various research studies that NFUP has been a part of.

Evaluating the outcomes of the perinatal / neonatal and specific complex therapies is a primary goal of the Neonatal Follow-Up Program. Unlike other clinical programs, we ask families to bring their children to see us even when there are no concerns. They

return because of the superb care they have received from our clinical team members.

What do we do

The NFU Program is multidisciplinary and provides comprehensive age appropriate sequential neurodevelopmental assessments at 4, 8, 18 months, 3 years and 4.5 years at clinics on 3 days per week.

Overall Goals of the Neonatal Follow-Up Program

‎

To evaluate short and long-term results of perinatal/neonatal intensive care in the Provincial Tertiary Neonatal Intensive Care Units by sequential clinical and neuro-developmental assessment of surviving infants during infancy and early childhood.
To ascertain impairment early in this high-risk population to promote early application of interventional techniques to minimize the severity of perinatally acquired disability.
To provide an educational experience in developmental assessment and the long-term effects of perinatal/neonatal intensive care for learners in perinatal/neonatal care training programs, as well as learners from Nursing, Physiotherapy,
Occupational Therapy, Speech& Language Therapy, and Psychology.
To promote and carry out research to further knowledge of the long-term effects of selected aspects of perinatal and neonatal management.
To co-operate with perinatal follow-up programs across Canada and the U.S. in assessing patients belonging to those programs who move to British Columbia.

Patient Recruitment Criteria

‎

Patients are recruited for follow-up based on perinatal/neonatal risk factors. Our recruitment criteria are the most stringent of any Neonatal Follow-Up Program in the country based on budget and space factors affecting our ability to service the patient load. The Follow-Up Program decided to focus on categories of children who were at highest risk of disability or about whom little was known about potential outcomes.

Birth weight < 800 grams
Gestational age < 25 weeks
Intraparenchymal intracranial hemorrhage
Periventricular Leukomalacia
Severe retinopathy of prematurity (Grade 3 or above or requiring laser treatment)
Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia
All patients who received ECLS at BCCH
Patients Discharged Home on Oxygen
Patients on Funded studies

We see patients referred from other follow-up clinics that have moved to BC, and retain them if they meet our recruitment criteria; otherwise we see them once to make sure they get connected up with appropriate services.

Education

The NFU Program has an almost continuous flow of learners including neonatal fellows, perinatal fellows, developmental pediatric fellows and students in clinical attachments to nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, psychology, speech therapy, audiology and

medical students in Phase IV or an elective.

GMA Workshops 2024

General Movements Assessesment Training (Basic and Advanced) Courses

5-8 December, 2024

How to register for the trainign workshop:

Please RIGHT CLICK and choose SAVE LINK AS on this link to download and submit the registration form; filling out the form using your web browser online WILL NOT function correctly.
Please pay the workshop fees next to complete your registration. Payment links for the workshop can be found in the form above as well as in the links below. Your registration is not complete until you have completed both of the steps above.

Payment Links:

GMA Basic Course Payment

GMA Advanced Course Payment

Tab Heading