My husband, Christopher, and I were elated when we discovered that we were expecting. Every doctor’s appointment showed that everything was progressing as expected, …but on Mother’s Day, I was in an ambulance on the way from WakeMed Cary to WakeMed in Raleigh with the certainty that this child that we had hoped and prayed […]
No matter the differences in medical complications or care between NICU babies, parents feel the same emotions: trauma, sadness, fear, guilt, happiness and most importantly love. An Unexpected Father’s Day Surprise My water broke unexpectedly on June 14th (my husband’s birthday), and I was rushed to WakeMed where they hoped I would stay for the next 7 […]
Prematurity does not end after the baby leaves the NICU to go home. Babies born prematurely are more likely to have developmental struggles than babies born on time. However, getting them therapy early drastically improves their struggles. World Prematurity Day is a day to help make people aware of some of the facts related to […]
*This blog post was written in collaboration with Jim Helm, with contributions from Dr. James Perciaccante. Parents and caregivers recognize the importance and the positive impact that developmental care can have on the health and development of premature babies. The Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program (NIDCAP) is an approach to providing developmentally supportive […]
WakeMed’s new expansion of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) opened to patients on February 20, 2014. Not only did it add 12 new patient beds, but it marked the introduction of “single-room care” for NICU patients, which includes 27 private rooms. Single-room care allows families to spend almost unlimited time with their babies and […]
This week, WakeMed opened its newly expanded Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). By adding 12 new patient beds, the expansion brings the total number of NICU beds to 48. It also marks the introduction of “single-room care,” with 27 private rooms opening for babies and their families. Single-room care in the NICU represents […]
It was the day after Christmas, December 26, 2022, when six-months pregnant Maria Patterson began to feel strong labor contractions. She had traveled from Texas to North Carolina with her husband, McKinley Patterson, IV, and their seven-year-old son to celebrate the holidays with family. She’d experienced Braxton Hicks contractions just days prior, so Maria figured […]
The first intensive care nursery at WakeMed opened in July 1973, two years before the American Board of Pediatrics created the first subspecialty board exam for Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine. The two-room unit, which had space for just 14 isolettes, was made possible by funds from hospital volunteers alongside a negative pressure respirator donated by the March […]
Giving is good for the soul. In fact, there is scientific evidence that altruistic people receive pleasure from being generous. This is certainly the case with Sarah Dugger, PhD, a wife, mother of two and clinical genomic scientist. Her life’s work is dedicated to giving help and hope to people with medical conditions to improve […]
A Long IVF Journey Matt and Allie Zeck were a healthy couple with unexplained infertility. They had tried for years to become pregnant naturally, but when their efforts failed, they turned to in vitro fertilization (IVF). This process involves monitoring and stimulating a woman’s ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova from her ovaries and […]
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