New March of Dimes NICU Family Support program empowers families with sick babies

To help babies in the neonatal intensive care unit start life strong, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford has launched a March of Dimes NICU Family Support® program, the hospital announced recently. Through this partnership with March of Dimes and Stanford, parents with babies in the NICU will receive high quality educational materials both in print and online, offering support and information to help them cope with the emotional and difficult experience of having a sick baby.

At an August 20 press conference announcing the program, Christopher G. Dawes, president and chief executive officer of Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford and Stanford Medicine Children’s Health; Jennifer Howse, PhD, president of March of Dimes; California 18th District Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, co-author of the PREEMIE Reauthorization Act; and David Stevenson, MD, director of the Johnson Pregnancy and Newborn Center spoke about the importance of this extraordinary program. Designed just for NICU families, the materials explain the role of staff, equipment, and procedures parents may encounter in the NICU. Additionally, through the online Share Your Story website, families can get support from other families going through similar experiences.

Here at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, our staff supports the birth of nearly 4500 babies each year, and approximately 1500 babies are admitted each year to our neonatal intensive care unit and intermediate care nursery.

“The NICU Family Support program is a wonderful opportunity for our NICU to enhance the extraordinary care we already provide,” Dawes said. “The program increases parents’ confidence and gives NICU staff the tools they need to support families and babies. Through our partnership with the March of Dimes NICU Family Support® program, we can help these families and empower parents in new and important ways.”

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