The Golden Hour: Care of the LBW Infant During the First Hour of Life One Unit’s Experience

Care practices during the first hour of life, the Golden Hour, can have a significant impact on outcomes of low birth weight infants. Although the latest edition of the Neonatal Resuscitation Program added guidelines for preterm infants, additional care is often indicated. Complications that could potentially be impacted by care in the first hour of life include thermoregulation, intraventricular hemorrhage, chronic lung disease, and retinopathy of prematurity. Our unit has implemented and revised a Golden Hour evidence-based care process that includes the use of realistic videotaped simulations, followed by team debriefing sessions. Early results of the revised process show reductions in the targeted complications.