No abstract

Prior to the pandemic, parents met weekly for 1.5 hours over 16 weeks. 63 recorded visits: 34 parents on NICU and 29 from home. The majority were mothers -three with triplets/twins; three fathers joined. Prematurity, surgery, breastfeeding, milk, sleep, siblings, medication, equipment, jobs, income and illness were the main topics of discussion. Anxiety, separation and loss of normality were all shared feelings with empathy, reassurance and coping strategies expressed. Psychotherapy was offered to several parents.Senior staff presence enabled parents' problems to be raised with confidence and suggestions promptly implemented. Eight underwent practical resuscitation, choking, breastfeeding and cot death prevention training with great feedback. During lockdown, meetings continued virtually. Parents use WhatsApp and set up a closed Instagram group. Conclusions Community outreach, peer support and meeting thriving NICU babies can offer unparalleled hope and inspiration to families thrust on a challenging journey.Support groups can easily complement the formal psychological therapy that NICU parents receive and are an inexpensive way of providing truly family-centred care. Listening to parents and walking in their shoes, inspired us to build upon our ambitions for parent education. Engaging parent advocates has helped sustain peer support and strengthened our service improving the confidence and mental-wellbeing of future NICU families.

Eczema is a common inflammatory skin disorder during infancy. Evidence has shown that skin-microbiome fluctuations may precede eczema development, but their predictive value for eczema phenotypes remains unknown. We aimed to investigate the early-life evolution of the skin microbiome and its temporal associations with different pairs of eczema phenotypes (transient versus persistent, atopic versus non-atopic) in Chinese children. We followed 119 term Chinese infants from birth to 24 months old within a Hong Kong birth cohort. The skin microbes at the left antecubital fossa were serially sampled by flocked swabs at 1, 6, and 12 months for bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The atopic sensitization at 12 months was strongly associated with eczema persisting to 24 months (odds ratio 4.95, 95% confidence interval 1.29–19.01). Compared with those with non-atopic eczema, the children with atopic eczema had reduced alpha diversity at 12 months (p < 0.001) and transiently higher abundance of the genus Janibacter at 6 months (p < 0.001). Our findings suggest that atopic sensitization at 12 months may predict persistent eczema by 24 months, and atopic eczema at 12 months is associated with unique skin microbiome profiles at 6 and 12 months. Non-invasive skin-microbiome profiling may have predictive value for atopic eczema.