National Neonatal Project Executive Summary

We are pleased to share the evaluation of the National Neonatal Project (NNP), which ran from September 2021 to December 2024. The project supported staff in 18 neonatal units with the knowledge and skills to implement the UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative Neonatal standards.

In 2021, the Baby Friendly Initiative secured funding  to support implementation of the neonatal standards in eighteen units across the UK.

Fifty-nine neonatal units across England and Wales applied to take part in the NNP. Through a competitive process, eighteen units were selected. These units embarked on implementing the standards in a period following the Covid-19 pandemic – a time that brought unique challenges but also opportunities for positive change.

Participating units included:

• Barnsley Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Neonatal Unit
• Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board Neonatal Units
• Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, Stoke Mandeville Neonatal Unit
• Chelsea & Westminster NHS Foundation Trust (2 units)
• Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust (2 units)
• North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust (2 units)
• Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust
• Royal Surrey NHS FT, Special Care Baby Unit
• Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, Neonatal Unit
• Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Jessop Wing
• Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, King’s Mill Hospital
• South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, James Cook University Hospital
• Southport & Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust, Special Care Baby Unit
• The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust , Russells Hall Hospital
• University Hospital of North Midlands NHS Trust, Royal Stoke Neonatal Unit

Each unit received a package of support including access to our 5-day training package, a planning meeting, assessment costs and bi-annual support meetings. This high level of support resulted in rapid progress. Across each unit, the programme achieved significant change in building capacity for infant feeding, supported improvements in skin-to-skin contact care and improved unit culture and care practice, including a range of innovations to improve care for parents and babies.

Throughout the project, the UNICEF UK Research and Evaluation team provided support in evaluating progress in all units through a range of ways including online surveys, focus groups and 1:1 interviews. More information on the improvements made, as well as key components that were identified as being essential to the programme’s success plus a full evaluation of the project, can be found in the document download link on this page.