What is CONI?
Parents who have experienced a sudden and unexpected death of a baby or child often feel anxious when they have another baby. CONI is a programme working with local public healthcare providers to facilitate a service for bereaved parents to help with the anxieties around another baby.
Through CONI, parents can:
- receive regular home visits by their health visitor, so they can talk freely about any worries and seek advice
- keep a symptom diary to record their baby’s health, which they can then discuss with their health visitor
- use the Baby Check App to help decide when their baby should be seen by a medical or nursing professional
- monitor their baby’s growth with a weight chart, to detect changes quickly
- borrow monitors which pick up movements as the baby breathes, and will ring an alarm if movements stop for longer than 20 seconds
- receive basic life support training
- receive a room thermometer and guidance on bedding and clothing
As a result of this extra monitoring parents may be prompted to seek medical advice by the app or other events. In some circumstances, especially out of hours, these families are likely to present to the Emergency Department.
Parents will often bring the childs “Red Book” – ensure you look at this and if they are enrolled in the CONI programme it may contain this Paediatric Passport or a similar local version that gives you the contact details of the healthcare professionals involved.
Ensure you take the parents concerns seriously, parents know their child best and addressing their anxieties is important. Seek advice and support as required, ensuring you mention that the family are part of the CONI programme.
Further information on CONI and SIDS can be found at the Lullaby Trust
