Bonding with a newborn baby after giving birth is one of the most pleasurable parts of infant care. Labor may have been painful or even riddled with complications, but for most moms, all the agony is instantly forgotten once she gets to hold her baby. It’s instinctual for the mother, father and other caregivers to […]
With newborn babies, there’s no shortage of worries. From wondering if they are eating enough, to what’s in that diaper, to childproofing the house, to knowing when to call the doctor — new parents have a lot to think about. And it doesn’t help that some infections in babies can start even before birth, as […]
I am a planner. My plan was to have a completely natural birth with exclusive breastfeeding. It was a plan written in stone, to the point of me refusing a butterfly catheter when I first got to the hospital for my delivery. Long story short – my birthing plan flew out the window. I had […]
For the past six years, WakeMed’s NICU has participated in the Kangaroo Challenge from Sunnybrook Hospital in Canada. This is an international challenge to see which hospital can log the most hours participating in kangaroo care. Each year for 15 days, we ‘challenge’ our parents with a Kangaroo-A-Thon to kangaroo their babies as usual—but this […]
*Parts of this blog post were taken from our original blog post, written by Jim Helm and James Perciaccante, MD. Parents and caregivers recognize the importance and impact that developmental care has on the health and development of premature babies. The Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program (NIDCAP) is an approach to providing developmentally supportive care to infants […]
Fragile newborns need the best possible nutrition to grow and develop into healthy infants. A mother’s breast milk is best, but many times critically ill and premature babies can’t breastfeed, and their mothers are frequently unable to pump enough milk for them. Dr. Jonathan Seigel is a neonatologist and medical director of WakeMed Mother’s Milk Bank. According to […]
Download a printable version of this blog post. For the past five years, WakeMed’s NICU has participated in the Kangaroo Challenge from Sunnybrook Hospital in Canada. This is an international challenge to see which hospital can log the most hours participating in kangaroo care. Each year for 15 days, we ‘challenge’ our parents with a […]
*This article was written in collaboration with LaToshia Rouse with contributions from Jim Helm. The WakeMed NICU Advisory & Parent Support group (NAPS) has joined forces with the Development Team (Jim Helm, Laurie Slaughter, and Jennifer Powell) in the WakeMed NICU for “Extra Hand Hugs Week”. About Extra Hand Hugs “Hand Hugging” or “hand hugs” are […]
