A Southampton dietitian has been honoured with a research impact award for her novel work to support babies with congenital heart disease (CHD).
Luise Marino has spearheaded a team of doctors and researchers at Southampton Children’s Hospital who developed an effective ‘nutrition pathway’. The guidance improves infant growth and reduces time spent in intensive care for babies who undergo major heart surgery.
Dr Marino is the research impact winner of the Chief Allied Health Professions Officer (CAHPO) Awards 2021.
Supporting babies with heart disease
Around 4,000 babies a year in the UK are born with CHD and many need more than one heart operation during the first year of life.
Most of these babies have a normal weight at birth but suffer from poor growth in the coming months. This can increase the risk of complications following surgery.
There is currently no standard guidance or information available on how to improve growth for babies with CHD in the months leading up to surgery.
Southampton researchers have developed and trialled a new way of supporting babies pre-surgery. This included introducing a weekly dietitian review and a nutrient-packed formula.
The Southampton team have produced a series of recipe books funded by Southampton Hospital Charity.
The books are widely used by healthcare workers and parents in the UK, as well as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. They are currently being translated into Portuguese for use in Brazil and in China.
Pathway to positive outcomes
To date, the team have supported around 500 infants using the pathway. They have also helped other centres adapt their own pathways, such as Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital.
The results of the NIHR-funded work, published in the journal Clinical Nutrition, showed babies on this nutrition pathway had grown better by their first birthday compared to past patients.
The number of babies who failed to grow well was reduced by 14% and they spent an average 10 days less in intensive care. Parents also reported feeling supported, informed and able to seek help for feeding problems.
In the last NHS England Paediatric Cardiology review the pathway was recognised as an exemplar of good practice.
‘Massive team effort’
This autumn’s CAHPO research impact prize was awarded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Clinical Research Network and Council for Allied Health Professions Research.
The success follows the British Dietetic Association (BDA) Dame Barbara Clayton Award in 2020.
Dr Marino said: “This is a massive team effort and would not be possible without input from UHS R&D, SoAR, NIHR Academy, co-authors, collaborators, health care professionals at Southampton Children’s Hospital and the BDA Paediatric Cardiology Interest Group. Lastly, I would like to thank all of the parents for their time and invaluable contributions.
“We hope the results to date will be replicated to enable this model to be rolled out nationally and, potentially, internationally.”
Image at top: Dr Luise Marino (top left) launches a recipe book for infants with congenital heart disease.
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