Adult 'preemies' get NICU treatment
Caregivers learn proper handling, how to aid families
Strangers fuss with her diaper and someone positions an ice-cold stethoscope. Before they're done, she will have had cold liquid on her skin, been talked to VERY loudly and had lights shined in her pried-open eyes. The tape that secures the tube in her mouth will be pulled off and probably re-applied and pulled off again.
It's enough to make a grown Baby want to cry, as the adult volunteers playing Baby learned in a special training Thursday called "Preemie for a Day" at University Hospital.
Imagine how all the poking and fussing feels to actual preemies in an intensive care unit, said Kay Johnson and Michelle Waddell, child development experts from Children's Medical Ventures, which presents the training worldwide. The session was sponsored by the hospital and March of Dimes, which has a family support program in the U. Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, said spokesman Stephen McDonald.
Later, Johnson said, some of the volunteers will say they were cold. That's easily fixed. Some will say it was too loud. That's something staff can change, too.
This type of training is not just about comfort. Proper handling aids a premature baby's brain development and certain things can disrupt it. It's possible, for instance, to bypass complete auditory development as you push visual stimulation. Poor positioning can set up later problems with receptiveness to touch and body alignment and more.
The training also helps staff deal with and guide the stressed-out families of preemies. Take touch: preemies have different tolerance for it. Education and collaboration helps families figure out what pleases and soothes the baby. Petting, for instance, may irritate the baby but is instinctual for some parents.
Recent comments
This program is not a collosal waste of time, but rather gives good...
NICURN | Jan. 27, 2009 at 4:51 p.m.
I was a premie and I think this gives a lot of insight into how...
Daily Johnson | Jan. 9, 2009 at 1:25 p.m.
If this is how the March of Dimes utilizes their time, $$, and...
Cache | Jan. 9, 2009 at 10:24 a.m.
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