You and Your NICU Baby

Time with Your NICU Baby

If you have a baby in NICU, you and your baby probably had a pretty rough time with labor and delivery. As soon as you’re stable and ready to be transferred to the Postpartum Unit, a nurse can bring you to NICU to see your baby.

While you’re here in the hospital, you and your mate (or one designated visitor) are welcome to be with your baby as much as you want.

Once you leave the hospital, please be careful with yourself. You just had a baby and you’re going to need your strength when your baby arrives home. So come and be with your baby but tend to your own health, too.

When your baby is on a feeding schedule, you might want to be in the NICU at feeding times so your baby can sleep when not eating. Premature and sick babies need lots of undisturbed sleep so we’ll try to minimize handling between feedings, too.

Overnight for Parents

We have one family room which is reserved on a “space available” basis for one night at a time on a rotating basis. We try to prioritize which families use the room based on many factors — mostly on each baby’s condition and needs.

If you are interested in using the family sleep room, please discuss it with a nurse.

Once you have been discharged but your baby needs to stay in NICU and you live far from the hospital, please ask social services for a list of hotels, motels and suites.

Kangaroo Care

Think of a kangaroo pouch. It’s an exterior womb where young kangas can feel safe and warm up close to their mothers.

Now think of how traumatic birth can be for human babies. And how NICU babies struggle. It makes sense to give your baby some familiarity and comfort that was lost when it left your womb.

Kangaroo Care is skin-to-skin between you and your baby. Holding your baby against your chest, stomach, neck...gently touching every wonderful inch of your newborn.

It’s therapeutic for both of you. Your baby stays warm. It helps regulate heart rate and breathing, and in some cases, even improves oxygen in your baby’s blood. And your baby can feel your heart better, hear your voice better, learn the smell of your skin...Your baby’s heightened sensory experiences of you will be reassuring and comforting. For you, it’s a special bond.

There will be times when your baby just wants to be left alone to rest. NICU nurses will help you and your baby find Kangaroo time together.