Medela Neonatal Perspectives

My recent move to Cincinnati has awoken my love of trees. Living near a forest made me more acutely aware of my senses. The smell of trees and majestic presence of tall oaks brought calm to my inner balance. I started reading articles on the therapeutic benefits of walking and being present in the forest, a… Read More about “Digging Wellness in the NICU”

The American Academy of Pediatrics and World Health Organization recommend exclusive breastfeeding for at least the first six months of life.1,2 Additionally, the Healthy People 2020 report recommends a target of 82% of infants receiving exclusive human milk at the time of discharge from the hospital and that 60% of these infants continue to receive… Read More about “Breastmilk is Medicine – The Role Of The Mother-Baby Nurse in the NICU Infant-Mother Dyad”

Maternal and infant mortality rates are at an alarming rate across the nation. In Chicago, infant mortality exceeds the national rate. This is unacceptable. It is critically important to reduce these statistics and improve the outcomes and death rates of mothers and infants. For this reason, a very important event occurred in Chicago in early… Read More about “How Can We Improve Chicago’s High Rate of Maternal/Infant Death?”

By now, you’ve heard the importance of providing opportunities for mothers to breastfeed (or pump, if needed) within a timely manner after birth to establish future milk supply. There are many questions circulating about this process, so today I’ll answer a few of the larger ones. Every mom who desires to breastfeed should begin her… Read More about “Breastfeeding Initiation: Your Questions Answered”

The Joint Commission (JC) has a relatively new element of performance that went into effect in January 2019. Its intention was to decrease the risk of misidentification errors in newborns. It resides under the National Patient Safety Goal 01.01.01 which states, “Use at least two patient identifiers when providing care, treatment, and services.” When this… Read More about “What’s in a Name? Establishing a Distinct Patient Naming Convention to Prevent Misidentification Errors”

If you’ve converted your NICU enteral feeding devices to ENFit connectors, you may have questions about proper cleaning techniques. Or, perhaps you are considering converting, but have concerns about cleaning the feeding tube hubs. Stay with me, because I’ve got your answers! The ENFit design, with male/female ports reversed from standard set up and also… Read More about “Cleaning ENFit in the NICU: What You Need to Know”

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding for infants for the first six months of life and continued breastfeeding for one year or longer (AAP, 2012). Breast milk has many health benefits for infants, including decreased rates of respiratory infections, asthma, ear infections, and gastrointestinal illnesses. For preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care… Read More about “Predictions for Mother’s Own Milk Feedings at NICU Discharge”

The value of human milk for all infants is no longer a debate. Empirical evidence supports the practice of providing human milk regardless of infants’ gestational age. Due to immaturity, the premature infant may not be able to direct breastfeed, and may need to first receive human milk enterally. Depending on the infant’s gestational age… Read More about “Transitioning to Breastfeeding In the NICU”

Sometimes the community decision has been made for your hospital to transition to ENFit enteral connectors after months of discussion and inclusion of multiple departments. Now what? Where to begin? Are you ready? It’s time to roll up your sleeves and put together a plan. When developing a transition plan across the organization, there are… Read More about “The ENFit Enteral Connector Transition: Ready When You Are”

More than a hundred years ago they called them “weaklings.” That was the name they used for low birthweight newborns who were small and frail in appearance compared to their healthy term newborn counterparts. Ironically, those weaklings would be considered giants now in comparison to our contemporary preterm infants, who can be as small as… Read More about “A World Without NEC”