NicView Cameras Connect Families to Their Newborns
The days of the glass partition are over, and family members celebrating a birth no longer have to wait to see the newest addition to their ranks. Ten tiny cameras attached to the Newborn Nursery and Level II Neonatal Intensive Care beds in Memorial Hospital West’s Family Birthplace are bringing instant, secure, worldwide connections to happy relatives through a variety of electronic devices.
Funded by donations to Memorial Foundation, NicView is a secured camera system that:
- Lets families view surgical-birth infants while mom is in recovery
- Allows parents to log in from home computers, tablets and smartphones to watch a live video stream of their baby’s bed
- Can be viewed on a secure Internet line that is password-protected and disallows recording
NicView has become a truly international phenomenon, with friends and family members from around the world logging in to view their babies. Since its first installation, NicView has recorded at least 11 logins per baby – from every state in the union and from 25 countries.
Patients and families are thrilled to be able to see their newest family members through this password-protected system. NicView gives them 24/7 access to their new bundle of joy.
From virtually anywhere, family members can now see newborns through a secured online camera system in the Newborn Nurseries and Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Memorial Hospital West’s Family Birthplace.
HypnoBirthing® Teaches Relaxation During Labor
Expectant moms who fear childbirth can learn to manage pain with the power of the mind. Memorial Hospital Miramar’s HypnoBirthing classes teach them how to relax during labor, according to specialist Luisa Shulruff.
“When you are not afraid, you are not tense, your muscles are relaxed and the labor process is quick and less traumatic,” says Shulruff, who coordinates the classes.
The HypnoBirthing program consists of five 2½-hour classes for both expectant mothers and their partners. They learn breathing, meditation and affirmation techniques to arrive at a state of connection with the body and the baby. To help expectants moms relax, contractions are referred to as “intense surges,” and the word “pain” is not used.
Shulruff says she enjoys teaching this different approach to help moms through one of life’s most significant experiences. She asks her students to refrain from listening to traumatic birth stories and focus on positive labor experiences. They also receive a book and a relaxation CD to listen to daily — not only to help calm labor fears, but also to manage stress in their everyday lives.
The moms learn to hypnotize themselves. The mother arrives at a state where she knows what she has to do to make way for the baby.
A Lifesaving Resource for High-Risk Pregnancies
High-risk maternity patients in South Florida no longer have to travel to facilities in other parts of the country for specialized pregnancy care. Memorial Maternal-Fetal Program at Memorial Regional Hospital and Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital cares for high-risk patients close to home – providing high-quality, leading-edge services from a multidisciplinary team, using the latest technologies for safe and successful deliveries.
The program offers the services of:
- Maternal-fetal medicine specialists
- Neonatologists
- Adult congenital heart disease and heart failure specialists
- Pediatric and adult surgeons
- Obstetric anesthesiologists
- Pediatric radiologists with special expertise in fetal MRI
- Maternal opiate detoxification
- And many others
For high-risk mothers and children with preexisting cardiac disease or repaired congenital heart conditions, Memorial Maternal-Fetal Medicine Program’s cardiac services include:
- Adult congenital heart disease and heart failure specialists
- Fetal echoCardiac MRI
- Adult and pediatric cardiac surgery
- Adult and pediatric cardiac catheterization
- Adult and pediatric heart transplant services
- Electrophysiology
The program features the expertise of renowned pediatric and adult cardiologists, plus cardiac surgeons and transplant teams. And with an ECMO unit, hybrid ORs and a catheterization lab just steps away, babies with complex heart abnormalities can have lifesaving cardiac surgery within moments after birth.
Memorial Maternal-Fetal Medicine Program offers comprehensive care to high-risk moms and babies, especially those with congenital and acquired heart disease – all in the knowledge that we are serving two patients: the expectant mother and her child. Whether the mother or the baby (or both) have a significant medical or surgical problem, we are able to provide advanced care for all manner of maternal and fetal abnormalities and complications thanks to the exceptional physicians we have on staff, our multidisciplinary team approach to complex patients, and the cutting-edge resources we have at our disposal at Memorial.
© 2016 Memorial Healthcare System