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Keeping moms with babies is goal of new Bellin NICU

By Jen Hirthe
Correspondent


GREEN BAY – Local mom, Ashley Woosmann, said she’s no stranger to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) – with two of her children spending time there.

However, she said the experiences were completely different.

“My son was a NICU baby seven years ago, and I wasn’t able to really see him much,” Woosmann said. “It was really hard having to go to an entirely different hospital to visit him.”

When her most recent addition, daughter Ellie, entered the world and needed the NICU services, thanks to Bellin’s new unit, her experience was much different.

The new Family Integrated Neonatal Intensive Care Unit allows the hospital to provide “couplet care” with the mother and baby in the same room.

“Being able to stay in the same room and recover, while my daughter was in the NICU, was such an awesome experience,” Woosmann said. “Bellin having their own NICU on the same floor as delivery was a much smoother transition, while also struggling with having a sick baby.”

Deborah Fischer, Bellin Health vice president for OB/GYN and Neonatology, said Bellin’s couplet care unit is believed to be the first of its kind in Wisconsin. 

Fischer said the unit offers 14 private suites with room for up to 18 babies, accounting for twins, who often need a higher level of care after birth.

It’s equipped with specially-trained physicians, neonatology nurse practitioners, NICU nurses and respiratory therapists available 24/7 to respond to babies’ needs. 

“We also have specially-trained physical therapists and speech therapists,” Fischer said. “We also have dieticians, resource case managers, and licensed professional counselors – along with more resources to come in the near future.”

The suites, she said, are catered to both the mothers and babies.

Woosmann said Ellie was born at 35 weeks, five weeks from “full-term,” and spent eight days in the NICU before being discharged.

“The NICU at Bellin made our stay so much more convenient with my daughter in the NICU,” Woosmann said. “Even after I was discharged from the hospital, I was still able to stay in the same room with her until she was finally able to leave as well.”

Fischer said the environment is specially designed to accommodate the specific needs of postpartum moms and their newborns.

“This includes technology, such as circadian rhythm (the natural cycle of physical, mental and behavior changes that the body goes through in a 24-hour cycle) lighting, which is specially designed to regulate circadian rhythms for preterm infants who may struggle to establish these patterns,” she said.

With an environment conducive to mom and baby healing together, she said having time to get to know each other as a family, accompanied with specially-trained staff just steps away, if assistance is needed.

“Our goal is to help parents learn to care for their precious new additions, who we know may require a higher level of care than other newborns.” Fischer said, “We work with them to build skills and confidence, encourage bonding and ultimately prepare them to give their baby the best possible start while they are with us, and also when they arrive home.” 

She said the specially-designed suites facilitate parents’ hands-on involvement in learning to care for their baby from day one.

“In fact babies cared for in this model often discharge sooner than those in a traditional NICU model,” Fischer said.

In addition, she said the unit includes a family room with access to an outdoor patio space during warm-weather months.

She said the new unit opening came at an opportune time in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s been a busy time at Bellin as we continue to coexist with COVID-19,” Fischer said. “Yet, these miracle babies keep arriving, and we know the best way we can care for them and their families is in this beautiful, state-of-the-art new space. We knew it was important to keep this project moving for the benefit of our littlest patients and the families who love them.”

Once families go home, she said 24/7 help is available to answer questions, ease worries and help parents and babies begin their new lives together at home. 

“We ensure when patients leave us that we do have a plan in place to follow-up care for both mom and baby, as well as a ‘Bridge Forward’ assessment clinic that tracks the babies’ growth and development,” Fischer said. “The follow-through services are customized to meet each baby’s and family’s needs.” 

More than a dozen babies, just like little Ellie, have been cared for since the couplet care rooms and NICU unit opened last month.

Fischer said Bellin plans to add more rooms, but the timing is not yet known.

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