My daughters spent their first few days of life in the neonatal intensive care unit, and I won't soon forget padding down the long hospital hallways, decked out in my flimsy gown and fluffy blue slippers, every two hours to go visit and feed them. As emotional as this time was for me and my husband, I recognize it would have been even more so if I wasn't able to see my baby - which is why I think a new program at a Los Angeles hospital is so cool. Called BabyTime, the Cedars-Sinai program uses iPads to connect parents with their premature or ill newborns.
readwrite's Brian S. Hall reported yesterday:
Mothers who are confined to recovery rooms following delivery, typically because of a cesarean section or other complications, often can't see their newborns in the intensive care unit for 2-3 days. "With BabyTime, the new mother can now see their baby in about 2-3 hours," Yvonne Kidder, a clinical nurse in the hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), told me:
"BabyTime's been wonderful. For mothers, to see their baby, this absolutely lessens their anxiety. For the fathers, who can become overwhelmed with all the information they are receiving, BabyTime bridges the gap and allows for a direct line between mother and caregivers."
Previously: The emotional struggles of parents of preemies
