NICU Receives Donation from Ronald McDonald House Charities

Until now, parents and newborns who made stops in the neo-natal intensive care unit before heading home got to know each other in bare-bones, plain “parenting rooms.”

Armed with a $25,000 donation from Ronald McDonald House Charities, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences has made the four decorated and furnished rooms where parents bond with their critically ill babies a little more like home. Along with beds, the main rooms contain arm chairs, rocking chairs, mini fridges and art on the walls. A bathroom is attached to each room, illuminated with restful lights.

“This time is crucial, crucial to both (baby and parents),” Chris Purdon, co-ordinator of pediatrics and neonatal ICU, said about the transition between hospital and home. Every year, 425 newborns are treated in the neonatal ICU. As baby becomes closer to discharge from the ICU, parents can use the room to become more comfortable caring for their little one. Many parents sleep overnight in the rooms, said Purdon. Having parents and baby together promotes the bonding process and helps the baby heal faster, she said.

The closeness helps parents who may be far from home, and the closer contact with the infant helps prevent post-partum depression in mothers, she added. That bonding has been shown to help babies gain weight faster and helps with the feeding process. Emotional closeness helps physical health for both baby and parent, Purdon said.

Hospital staff also use the rooms to teach parents the specialized care their babies will need once the family returns home.

NICU Donation

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