Children’s Minnesota https://www.childrensmn.org has made their new Children’s in Home App-Based Monitoring Program (CHAMP) available exclusively at both of their hospital campuses in Minneapolis and St. Paul, and also at Mercy Hospital.
The CHAMP locations are part of the Mother Baby Centers, a partnership between Allina Health and Children’s Minnesota. CHAMP is the only program in Minnesota that enables eligible newborns to go home sooner while still being monitored remotely by Children’s Minnesota’s neonatology team.
Only babies currently in the three hospitals’ Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) and their Minneapolis Hospital’s Special Care Nursery, are eligible for the program and must meet certain requirements before they are enrolled in CHAMP.
Among the qualifications for CHAMP, a newborn must not have any respiratory problems and also weigh more than four pounds. Newborns who qualify for CHAMP have a Nasogastric (NG) feeding tube present when discharged and are on a combination of oral and tube feedings at that time. Each infant’s family is taught proper NG and oral feeding techniques, and also completes CPR training prior to discharge.
At home, the newborn’s parents use a specialized app via their smartphone or tablet to input their baby’s vitals daily. Vitals include the baby’s weight, and how their feed orally compares to their tube feeding support.