When Fida Georges’ twin sons spent six weeks in neonatal intensive care after being born eight weeks early in 2007, she didn’t think she needed support for herself.
“When I had my babies I would have declined it, but I realized later on that I would have wanted support,” she said.
Now Georges is a committee member and support parent for a new group designed to help these parents. NICU P.E.A.S. - Parent Education and Support - provides encouragement and support to families who have a child in The Medical Center’s neonatal intensive care unit.
“We get paired up with new parents and do one-on-on counseling services,” Georges said. “We’ve been doing it for over a month now. It’s going really well.”
A support group also meets at 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays in the hospital’s Medical Conference Room. Parents gather and share their experiences. Each second Tuesday there is a speaker on topics such as breastfeeding, postpartum depression and respiratory therapy, said Debra Smith, charge nurse for The Medical Center’s newborn nursery and NICU.
“There is a nurse leader and support parent at each meeting. We provide refreshments,” she said. “A lot of mothers stay here a long time. The days get long and hard on the families.”
NICU P.E.A.S. is funded by an $8,800 community grant received through the March of Dimes, Smith said. The money was used to buy things for parents that make caring for their babies easier, such as a cloth doll that the mother wears for a few hours on her skin and is placed in the incubator with her baby. Parents also receive a blanket, water bottle and snacks, educational material and a kangaroo to remind them to practice Kangaroo Care, which involves holding the baby with skin-to-skin contact.
“Studies show that babies thrive with skin-to-skin contact,” Smith said.
Parents are offered a support parent within 24 hours of babies being admitted to the NICU, Smith said. If parents decline the support but decide later that they want the service, they can contact Smith. The support parents have undergone background checks and are able to discuss the babies with the parents.
“When parents see a badge, they know this person has been approved by the hospital,” she said.
The group has six active support parents, and Smith hopes to add more.
“We add names to the list of parents who come through the NICU who would be good support parents,” she said. “We contact them after one year.”
Dr. Aspasia Fissikoudi, a neonatologist at The Medical Center, said that 10 percent of the babies born there enter the NICU because of prematurity, stress or other medical problems. The average stay is two to three weeks, though some are there anywhere from a few days to a few months.
“Parents can (visit) for as long as they want. We encourage it,” she said. “We want them to be involved as much as possible. When the babies are stable, we encourage skin-to-skin contact.”
Fissikoudi said parents learn a variety of things, including how to hold the baby and exercises to help them get stronger.
“It’s magic when you see them get to know their baby,” she said.
Cheri Natcher, an NICU P.E.A.S. board member, said she wished the group had been available when she gave birth to her son, who was six weeks early, weighed 3 pounds, 3 ounces and has grown up to be a healthy teenager.
“I have a 16-year-old who was a preemie. It was a huge responsibility,” she said. “When you have a baby with respiratory problems and jaundice who can’t maintain his body temperature, it’s scary. It’s so nice to talk to somebody who has walked this path.”
Although it has been years since her son was in the NICU, the memories are still fresh for Natcher. Being a part of the group helps her reach out to other parents who are experiencing it.
“I feel like it’s important to give back,” she said.
Georges agreed that the memories of being in the NICU stays with parents. Her twins, who will turn 3 in October, were born eight weeks early and were in the NICU for six weeks. She said the fact that they are healthy and developmentally on track is a blessing.
“We grow up naive. We believe we will get pregnant, have the baby and bring the baby home,” she said. “(When it doesn’t happen that way), it’s a huge shock. It’s a huge wake-up call.”
NICU P.E.A.S. provides healing not only for the new parents, but for the support parents as well, Georges said.
“Once you’ve been through the NICU experience, you’re never the same,” she said. “I’m glad to have this organization up and running in Bowling Green.”
The Medical Center will have an NICU Reunion for former NICU patients and their families, doctors, nurses and staff members from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 12 in the hospital’s auditorium.
— For more information about NICU P.E.A.S. or the reunion, call 796-2144 or visit www.mcbg.com.
