MOBILE, Alabama (Dec. 20, 2024) Staff members in USA Health’s level III neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) spent time this week helping families make memories for the tiniest patients at Children’s & Women’s Hospital.
After all, you only get one chance to have a first photo with the jolly old elf.
Besides photo sessions with Santa, there were arts and crafts parties and gifts distributed from community groups who help support the dozens of NICU families with hospitalized children.
The festivities are part of an ongoing initiative by the specially trained nurses and other providers to help make life a little more normal for the parents of severely premature and sick infants. The holidays can be a stressful time to have a child in the hospital, so NICU residents and their parents are included in a variety of activities to make the season brighter.
More than 1,000 premature infants “graduate” from the NICU at Children’s & Women’s Hospital each year. The level III neonatal intensive care unit offers the highest level of care for premature newborns in the region and features a small baby unit, where babies born before 28 weeks' gestation are cared for.
The NICU, and small baby unit staff comprise a multidisciplinary team of highly trained neonatologists, nurse practitioners, nurses, respiratory therapists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, lactation consultants and pharmacists who have undergone advanced education.
Both units offer an exceptional team of social workers and nurses trained as parent educators who help with everything from dealing with the challenges of having an infant in the NICU to home-health needs and specialized follow-up care.
