The Misericordia Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta hospital is using iPads to help keep parents connecting to their babies while they are being taken care of in the NICU. Moms and babies can now see and hear each other through a one-of-a-kind innovative idea that is keeping them connected through technology. Doctors and nurses are testing out a pilot project that uses iPads to allow parents to monitor their babies while they are still in the NICU.
In cases in which newborn babies are in need of additional medical attention, they are usually kept in the NICU even after a mother has been discharged from the hospital. More often than not, it’s hard for moms and dads to keep up with their babies while they are under the care of the hospital’s staff. That’s why the Misericordia Community Hospital has come up with a way to keep parents connected even though they are forced to stay separated while their child is receiving treatment.
According to Canada’s Global News, Dr. Mehaboob Shariff Sahik knows all too well how distressing it can be for a mother to remain separated from her child, especially right after childbirth. He says that this can have a negative impact on a mother’s health, which often leads to mental and emotional anxiety.
The hospital’s NowICU department is using a secure audio-visual teleconferencing system with customized iPads that allows parents to monitor their child’s progress from the comfort of their own home. Dr. Shaik explains that there are many benefits to having this kind of technology available to parents. One of the perks is that it helps stimulate milk production in nursing mothers and also helps ease any of the anxieties they may be feeling during their separation period from their child.
Right now the NowICU iPads are part of a pilot project but if proven to be successful, many other hospitals in the area will be looking to use it as well. In fact, Dr. Shaik is even hoping that the program will expand soon and in especially more rural parts of the province. He says that he’s so far received great feedback from the Health Quality Council of Alberta.