NICU News: Family to Family

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NICU News
Family to Family
From Alta Bates Summit Medical Center Berkeley’s NICU Family Advisory Council!
NICU Events
Experience the
“Parent Share”
Renewal
From classes to informal chats,
there is always something going on
in the Alta Bates NICU. Check out
some of our regular activities:
Parent Share
Thursdays 2 - 3pm
NICU Family Room
Listen • Share • Learn • Heal
For many NICU families, adjusting to life in and around the NICU can be
overwhelming. The opportunity to share a story, ask questions, and meet
other families is an important part of the healing process for NICU
parents. Linda Cole, RN, an Alta Bates NICU nurse and parent of a
micropreemie provided a safe, encouraging environment for parents to
connect during her weekly Parent Share meetings. If you ever had a
chance to visit a Parent Share meeting, you had a chance to make a
friend. We thank Linda whole-heartedly for her supportive, thoughtful
listening over the years, and look forward to continuing the Parent Share
meeting in years to come. Parent Share meetings are held on Thursdays,
from 2pm – 4pm in the Family Lounge of the NICU. Stop by and chat
with Kelly, a fellow NICU-graduate parent who will be carrying on the
Parent Share tradition in our NICU.
Save the Date!
March of Dimes Walk
th
Saturday, April 26
Join the Alta Bates Summit team at
the Alameda County Fairgrounds in
Pleasanton for the annual March for
Babies!
Parents of Preemies Day
Sunday, May 4 th
An on-site day of
appreciation for the families
of our precious NICU
patients.
Infant CPR
Saturdays or Sundays
Check at the front desk for times and to
register
Discharge Prep Classes
In English or Spanish – check at the front
desk for more information
Infant Massage
Wednesdays, 1:30- 3:30pm
Family Resource Center
1st Floor of Alta Bates
Developmental Play Groups
Tuesdays, 2:30 - 4pm
Herrick Campus
2001 Dwight Way, Berkeley
NICU NEWS FAMILY TO FAMILY
SPRING 2014
Free Classes for You and Your NICU Graduate
The Alta Bates Summit NICU is fortunate to have received a grant from Every
Child Counts which helps to provide the following classes to you at no-cost:
Infant Massage and Developmental Play groups
Infant Massage
Benefits of the Infant Massage class include promoting
bonding and attachment, relaxation, increased awareness of
feeling safe and secure, improved circulation and digestion,
improvement in weight gain and sleeping patterns,
stimulation of brain development and relief from the
discomfort of colic, constipation, teething, etc.
Each week you learn about the theory and practice of massage; tools for special problems such as colic, excessive
gas, constipation, acid reflux, and baby exercises. In addition, the lactation consultant and physical therapist
often drop in and visit. Veera Sanjana is the Infant Massage instructor and is in the NICU twice a month on
Wednesday mornings, please ask a staff member if you wish to meet her.
Comments from Parents on the Infant
Massage Class
“…so helpful to have the tools to make parenting to a
premature baby much less stressful”
“…the massage class has greatly improved my child’s health
and happiness as a whole”
“I loved learning about my baby’s body and what helps them
develop and how.”
“…learning all the massage techniques has been extremely
helpful, gives a greater connection to my twin girls.”
Infant Massage Classes are held each Wednesday from 1:30- 3:30pm in the
the Family Resource Center in the Alta Bates Summit lobby.
Sign up at the front desk if you are interested!
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NICU NEWS FAMILY TO FAMILY
SPRING 2014
Developmental Play Groups for NICU Graduates
Our weekly Developmental Play Groups explore ways to support and enhance your baby’s
development as they enter new developmental stages. You also meet other families whose
babies were in the NICU, and can share ideas and concerns.
Week 1: On the Move.
Meet with a Physical Therapist and Infant
Development Specialist. Together you will explore
ways to encourage and facilitate tummy time,
rolling, sitting, and crawling.
Week 3: Let’s Talk.
Meet with a Speech Therapist and Infant
Development Specialist. Learn about ways to
support your child’s communication, speech and
language development.
Week 2: Daily Activities and Routines. Meet
with an Occupational Therapist and Infant
Development Specialist. Discuss strategies to help
your baby with calming, soothing, feeding, sleep, and
bathing.
Week 4: Learning as we Play.
Meet with an Infant Development Specialist and
discover the links between play, learning, social
development and communication.
Developmental Play Groups are held every Tuesday from 2:30 – 4pm at Herrick Campus on Dwight Way in
Berkeley: 2001 Dwight Way, Berkeley Room 2190.
If you park in the parking lot on Milvia, we can validate your parking ticket.
Success Stories after the NICU
A new mom attended the Developmental Play Group with her infant son two months old, who had just been casted and
braced due to clubfeet. Mom was considerably stressed and having difficulty positioning her son for comfort and nursing.
The Physical Therapist expertly advised Mom with positioning techniques that enabled her to nurse her baby
comfortably. During the following session the developmental specialist asked if she was aware that they were eligible for
Early Start Birth-to-Three services through their local school district based on solely low-incidence criteria. Shortly
afterward, Mom was provided with the necessary information to request an assessment for her son.
We have since received an update letting us know that her son receives home visits and day care visits twice monthly by
the early intervention team in her local school district. Mom reports her NICU graduate is doing very well and is
beginning to crawl. She said that the Early Intervention services have made a positive impact on her baby's development,
and equally on her confidence in handling her baby.
For more information on Early Intervention services in your area,
contact Alison Brooks: BrookA@sutterhealth.org
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NICU NEWS FAMILY TO FAMILY
SPRING 2014
Important Safety Update for Infant Swings
From the American Academy of Pediatrics
Did you know that new government rules regarding mandatory safety
standards for swings went into effect May 2013? When using infant
swings, parents should ensure they meet the latest safety standards.
The safety rules were developed to protect infants after more than 350
swing-related incidents were reported between 2009 and 2012, including
two infant deaths and 24 injuries. Many swings already meet these
standards, but older baby equipment may not.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advises parents against using
infant swings for sleeping babies. Parents also should limit the amount of
waking time that their baby spends in a seat such as an infant swing,
bouncy seat, car seat or carrier to prevent the baby’s still-soft head from
becoming flat as a result of being in the same position for too long.
The following tips can help keep babies safe when in infant swings:
➼ Infants under age 4 months should be
seated in the most reclined swing
position to avoid slumping over and
suffocating.
➼ Toys on mobiles attached to the swings
should not be pulled off easily.
➼ The swing should not tip over or fold
up easily.
➼ Caregivers should make sure the baby
is not heavier than weight limits
specified on the swing label or
instructions.
➼ If the seat can be adjusted to more
than a 50-degree angle, it should
have shoulder straps to keep the
infant from falling out.
➼ The swing’s cradle surface should stay
fairly flat while in motion and while
stopped so the infant will not tip or
fall out.
If the baby falls asleep in a swing, car seat or bouncy seat, the AAP advises caregivers
to move the child to a firm sleep surface as soon as possible.
Practice “Tummy Time” Early and Often
The AAP also recommends tummy time for all infants, starting
the day they arrive home from the hospital. Babies should be
put on their stomachs while awake for three to five minutes at
a time two to three times a day and building up. Babies should
be watched during tummy time.
For more details on the infant swing guidelines, go to
http://www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PREREL/prhtml13/13037.html
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NICU NEWS FAMILY TO FAMILY
SPRING 2014
A “Fresh Ink” Book Review by Janine Kovac:
Ready For Air: A Journey through Premature Motherhood by Kate Hopper
The memoir Ready For Air: A Journey through
Premature Motherhood, by Minneapolis-based
author and writing teacher Kate Hopper, sat on my
bedside for weeks before I had the courage to open it.
Truthfully, I was afraid of what I’d read. My threemonth NICU stay with my micro-preemie twins was
harrowing enough and I didn’t want to read
something that would provoke my own painful and
scary NICU memories. The mere thought of it made
my stomach twist.
admitting to myself that I was disappointed, I
wouldn’t be able to be optimistic at the same time.
So I cracked jokes instead.
“It’s not like I’m the one giving them blood
transfusions,” I’d told our primary nurse. “That
would be something to worry about!”
In contrast, Kate writes the honest, raw truth. She
uncovers her feelings and describes her experience.
She gets mad and she gets sad. She worries, she
wonders, she feels guilty.
But my curiosity got the better of me. I knew Kate
Hopper through her online writing class Motherhood
and Words and through her book Use Your Words: A
Writing Guide for Mothers. She had exercises with
titles such as “Writing the Hard Stuff” and “What
Shapes Us: Reflection and Place.” I wanted to
know—how did someone who designed those lessons
apply them to her own writing?
When I read how Kate snapped at a nurse, I
remembered the way I had yelled to the
administrator who wanted me to sign the twins’
birth certificates. (“They might die!” I’d told him.)
When I read about Kate’s mother-guilt, it in turn
freed me to admit my own. (“I should have been able
to produce more milk.”).
Kate’s memoir begins when she is seven months’
pregnant and discovers she has a severe bout of
preeclampsia. Baby Stella is born eight weeks early.
Any NICU parent will instantly recognize the details
of the hospital world that Kate describes: the
isolettes, the x-rays, hand washing, kangaroo care,
round-the-clock pumping. I found myself nodding as
I read that Stella’s “scrawny legs were splayed out
like a frog’s” and how “purple veins track across her
skull like a spider’s web.”
But most importantly, when I read Kate’s sweet
promise to Baby Stella (“I won’t breathe until you
breathe, okay?”), I saw how fear and optimism can
live side by side, how painful truth does not preclude
unconditional love.
At the end of the Ready For Air Kate writes, “It has
always seemed strange to me that the solitary act of
writing makes me feel more connected to the world,
but it does.”
“This cannot be my baby,” Kate writes. “This is not
how it’s supposed to happen.”
How fitting then, that Kate’s writing made me feel
more connected to the world, too.
I had also felt stunned when I’d stood over my babies
and looked down at the tiniest humans. I had never
imagined babies could be so small. Unlike Kate,
however, my instinct was to push away those details.
I feared that if I admitted how alien they looked, it
would mean that I didn’t love them the way I loved
my perfectly healthy toddler. And I worried that by
Ready For Air by Kate Hopper
(University of Minnesota Press, 2013)
is available online and at a bookstore
near you. Read more at:
http://www.katehopper.com/books/
ready-for-air/
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NICU NEWS FAMILY TO FAMILY
SPRING 2014
March for Babies with Alta Bates!
Show your support in the fight against prematurity and newborn
illnesses in the 2014 East Bay March for Babies, hosted by the March of
Dimes Foundation. Walk with Alta Bates staff, family, and friends this
year on Saturday, April 26th at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in
Pleasanton, beginning at 9:00 AM. Search for and sign up to march
with the Alta Bates team at:
http://www.marchforbabies.org
See you there!
NICU
Alta Bates Summit Medical Center
2450 Ashby Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94705
Alta Bates Summit
Medical Center