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A resource for parents to raise awareness about NICU equipment
Clinical View
10 notes from NICU nurses to parents of premature babies
GE HealthCare asked neonatal intensive care (NICU) nurses for notes that they would share with parents who are currently in the NICU. Click the link below to read their words of wisdom and encouragement.
A health service to be proud of
At 35 weeks, I gave birth to my twins. Florence (3lbs 8oz) was admitted into the NICU in order to regulate her body temperature, and to help her develop during those initial days. Florence stayed in the NICU for 5 days. Throughout the whole experience, the care we received was exceptional. Both twins are now healthy girls. The staff and facilities in the NICU are amazing.
A place of comfort
Jack was 8 weeks premature, just over 4lbs. Little Jack Jack was immediately hooked up to all sorts of tubes, breathing devices and monitors and placed in his “Giraffe” bed. We would later decorate the bed and understand it to be his place of comfort for the next six weeks as he developed. We celebrated that step and the hundreds more ups and downs that we would experience during our stay.
A most precious gift
Mackenzie was born 14 weeks early, weighing 1lb 12oz. She spent almost 4 months in the NICU. During her 108 days in the NICU she lived through lung disease, heart problems, infection in her blood, poor growth, eye injury, blood transfusions and aspiration of formula into her lungs. I found that it is the little things that medical professionals do in the NICU that make a difference. Now she is in high school.
A rollercoaster journey
My uterus ruptured and I needed to have an emergency c-section. Sophia was born at only 29 weeks. She has suffered from heart problems, brain bleeds, respiratory failure, collapsed lungs, a blood infection, intestinal surgery, and all through she has been on life support.
At the time of writing this, Sophia is off of life support, and her lungs and heart are doing better. The staff and facilities have been unbelievable.
Parents have a choice
I went into labor 5 weeks early. My son Jack was healthy but my daughter Isabelle suffered from breathing problems after being born. She weighed 4lbs. She was immediately moved into the NICU where she benefitted from expert care and advanced equipment that nursed her back to full health. By 20 weeks both twins had caught up, and both are now healthy and happy kids. I learned about NICU care and how important the regulation of temperature, feeding, and breathing are, as well as being able to maintain physical contact with your baby too.
So much to be grateful for
Our twins were born 15 weeks early. Makenna weighed 1lb 9oz, while Andrew was 1lb 10oz. The twins underwent heart surgery and spent time under bilirubin lights. Both children were on ventilators, then CPAP, and graduated to the nasal cannula. Makenna came home after 110 days and Andrew soon followed after a stay of 125 days. Today, my twins are 2. While they have mild developmental delays, they are active and healthy overall. We feel blessed by the staff and technology that gave our babies a fighting chance at life.
- A health service to be proud of
- A place of comfort
- A most precious gift
- A rollercoaster journey
- Parents have a choice
- So much to be grateful for
Working in the NICU - A Testimonial
I have worked as a nurse in the NICU for six and a half years. My favorite part of the job is seeing the babies get well, go home and grow into healthy little kids. I love seeing the incremental progress they make. It is also great watching the parents learn to care for their babies and take over in preparation to take them home.
The hardest thing about working in the NICU is caring for babies who don't make it or have a poor quality of life – such as those born at extremely low birth weight. It is hard emotionally to care for a baby that might not be able to become a self-sufficient person.
NICU nurses support parents by educating them on what they can do to help their baby, and by giving them as many opportunities as possible to be involved in their care. I encourage and try to make it possible for parents to hold their baby, even if he or she is on a ventilator.
My hospital does kangaroo care which is skin-to-skin holding. The parents who do this with their babies have great bonding and it helps to regulate the baby’s heart rate. I also try to educate parents on what is going on with their baby and give them resources for when they go home so that they still have a support network.
Technological equipment in the NICU is always changing and improving. The biggest change was moving to computerized charting. This does some quality control for you – for example, it double checks medication when you scan it into the computer and adds up fluid levels for you. It sometimes takes more time but overall is worth it.
Seeing babies who have spent months in the NICU get to go home is always very rewarding and memorable. There was one baby who had gastroschisis (born with intestines outside of his body) and he was in the NICU for five months. He had multiple surgeries and went home with a G-tube – a tube that goes into his tummy to feed him. Now he is three and doing really well.
We have an annual preemie party at the hospital and invite any family who has had a baby in the NICU for a month or longer. Going to those parties is really rewarding. It is great to see the progress that kids have made and the outcomes of babies you have cared for.
Equipment and resources
A neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) can appear a daunting place at first, but don't worry - everything you see is designed to provide the best possible care for each individual baby.
Preemie care explorer
NICU equipment creates the optimum environment for babies to rest and heal, while offering parents the chance to remain close to their new arrival. Here's our guide to NICU incubators.
Comfort
Equipment in modern neonatal intensive care units has been designed to help comfort each and every baby that passes through its doors. NICUs are constantly evolving, in a bid to provide the best environment to help premature babies heal and develop outside the womb. Treatment for jaundice, for example, used to consist of exposure to high levels of light beamed into an incubator. Nowadays, modern equipment such as the bilirubin blanket allows you to wrap, feed, and hold your baby while they receive phototherapy treatment.
Monitoring and support
Monitoring
From the moment a baby arrives in the NICU, they are monitored for their growth and development. NIRs monitors offer a non-invasive means of measuring the amount of oxygen in tissues and vital organs, while multi-parameter monitors observe the baby's heart rate, blood pressure and respiration.
Support
Neonatal nurseries strive to provide a developmentally friendly environment for your growing preemie. Adjusting the light and noise in the NICU promotes a nurturing environment to support growth. Medical equipment such as incubators have features like built in scales (so your baby doesn't need to be disturbed when being weighed), rotating mattresses (to minimize unnecessary movement), and pressure diffusing mattresses (to nurture and aid the baby's development).
Strength and transporting
Strength
Equipment such as IV pumps, breast pumps, exam lights and phototherapy lights have all been developed with premature baby care in mind. Advances in these vital pieces of equipment help make the NICU as quiet as possible, minimizing external stress factors for parent and baby.
Transporting
Often neonatal babies require more specialized tests or procedures in different hospital departments. Hospital departments will try to minimize disruption caused during transportation, and may use specially designed mobile incubators with batteries to continue all necessary care during transport. Units that serve as incubators, travel beds, and radiant warmers all help keep the baby as stable as possible during these checks, while minimizing distress.
Giraffe story mobile
The Giraffe story mobile aims to provide information and relevant stories for parents who have recently given birth to a premature baby as well as those who are seeking more information on premature baby care. This resource is intended to raise overall awareness about the GE HealthCare and premature baby care equipment. GE HealthCare invites you to get involved.
JB01213XX February 2023