S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 1 4 NICU News Family to Family From Alta Bates Summit Medical Center Berkeley s NICU Family Advisory Council! Experience the Parent Share Renewal 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. NICU Events 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 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 1 st Floor of Alta Bates Developmental Play Groups Tuesdays, 2:30-4pm Herrick Campus 2001 Dwight Way, Berkeley Save the Date! March of Dimes Walk Saturday, April 26 th 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.
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! 2
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 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. 3 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 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
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. The swing should not tip over or fold up easily. 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. Toys on mobiles attached to the swings should not be pulled off easily. Caregivers should make sure the baby is not heavier than weight limits specified on the swing label or instructions. 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 4
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. 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? 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. This cannot be my baby, Kate writes. This is not how it s supposed to happen. 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 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. 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. ). 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. How fitting then, that Kate s writing made me feel more connected to the world, too. 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/ 5
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 26 th 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