Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
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Family-Focused Care
MeritCare's NICU team strives to provide individualized care for each baby and family.
MeritCare recognizes the role that a family plays in a baby's health and healing. That's why in our NICU, our team encourages mothers, fathers and other family members to participate in their baby's care.
Studies show that family-focused care results in shorter hospital stays and better long-term outcomes. MeritCare encourages parents to participate in the baby's care, at every stage. This is one reason why visiting hours do not apply to parents; we consider them a part of our care team. Parents are allowed to stay with their baby as long as they want and may come and go as they please.
Kangaroo Care is encouraged when your baby is well enough to tolerate it. This is when parents hold baby skin-to-skin on there chest. This type of care develops a bond between baby and parent and promotes healing. It is an excellent way to get parents involved with direct care.
Sick babies need an environment that supports their development. This is where the renovation of the NICU is so important. The pod-design structure provides space for families to focus on the care of their baby. There's even special pods designed for multiples. So, twins, triplets or quadruplets can be close together with their family. With lower light and sound, the environment encourages longer and higher quality sleep, decreased stress responses, greater psychological stability, better feeding rhythms, quality of movement and increased average daily weight gain.
Here are some additional ways family can be involved:
- Touching and gently massaging will help comfort your baby.
- Pictures of family can be placed near your baby's incubator.
- Music can be soothing for your baby. You can also record yourself (reading a favorite book or singing a favorite song) for times when you can't be there. The recorder can be placed within your baby's incubator and may help to establish the infant-parent bond.
- Just being close to your baby can be soothing for both of you.