#neonatal intensive care unit

[authorlaurawinter]

Special shout-out because September is also NICU awareness month. 💚

My sweet baby is happy and healthy thanks to some incredible NICU nurses watching over her. These folks are absolute treasures and they deserve more love.

[kyreniacommentator]

Gazimağusa State Hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit opened

[realjediverse]

Baby Serial killer Nurse Lucy Letby Sentenced to Life in Prison

Lucy Letby, a former nurse who was convicted of murdering eight babies and attempting to kill 10 more at the University Hospitals of North Midlands (UHNM) in Stoke-on-Trent, England, was sentenced to a whole-life order on Monday, August 21, 2023. Letby, 30, was found guilty of eight counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder at Nottingham Crown Court in June. She was working as a…

[tanuandthetriplets]

Surviving NICU : The Final Week | Triplet Parenting Stories - Episode 12

[xollii]

Why would the "terrorists" leave firearms in the MRI lab I've seen cops plant better evidence

[iridessence]

Rashida Tlaib is a powerhouse. Her grandmother just passed away under occupation (her words) but she’s still organizing for HEAL Palestine— an initiative providing Health, Education, Aid, and Leadership opportunities in a collective effort to help heal Gaza’s youth.

A donation to HEAL Palestine will help shelter, feed, and treat injured and sick Palestinians who have fled military violence, and who are in dire need of basic necessities including food, clean water, and medical supplies because of Israel’s cruel blockade. currently HEAL is working to open a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and a new maternity department in Rafah, plus sponsoring medical teams to go to Gaza.

In addition to funding urgent needs, a donation will support long-term solutions and projects in Palestine as well, such as mental health and mentorship for children who’ve been living with trauma their entire lives, and programs to rebuild Gaza’s education and health systems.

Here’s the link to donate.

[spreejobs]

Registered Nurse - NICU Job Vacancies in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Registered Nurse - NICU Job Vacancies in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Registered Nurse – NICU Job Vacancies in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates JOB DESCRIPTION DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES  Clinical activities:  Provides direct care and related duties in the critical care. Maintains current knowledge of critical care nursing practice and standards. Plans, implements and evaluates nursing care given to assigned neonate in an effective and organized…

[savera-child-clinic]

Savera Child Clinic is a leading pediatric healthcare facility located in Faridabad, India. The clinic is renowned for its state-of-the-art neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), which is one of the best in the region. In this blog post, we will explore the reasons why Savera Child Clinic is considered the Top NICU in Faridabad.

[prolifeproliberty]

Doctors Can Now Save Very Premature Babies. Most Hospitals Don’t Try.

From the Wall Street Journal

After her water broke early, doctors told Fatima Goines to prepare for her newborn’s death.

Goines was 22 weeks into her pregnancy, just past the halfway mark. Doctors at Methodist Hospital in suburban Minneapolis said they couldn’t save such a premature baby and that no hospital could. They told her that once the baby girl was born, Goines could hold her until the infant died.

Goines didn’t want to give up. She checked herself out of Methodist Hospital and, on the recommendation of a fellow mom on Facebook, went to a birthing center connected to Children’s Minnesota hospital, 7 miles away from Methodist. After Goines gave birth, doctors there immediately intubated the baby to help her breathe and placed her in an incubator.

Me’Lonii is now a healthy 4-year-old, and has surpassed all the developmental milestones for her age. “She’s doing wonderfully well,” said Dr. Thomas George, who directs the Children’s Minnesota neonatal intensive care unit.

How many babies have died because doctors don’t try?

If you or someone you know is pregnant and likely to give birth prematurely, check the policies of your local hospitals. This map, compiled by the parents of 21-22 week babies that survived, can give you a starting point with hospitals that have been willing to save these tiny babies.

[reasonsforhope]

Flint, Michigan, has one of the [United States]'s highest rates of child poverty — something that got a lot of attention during the city's lead water crisis a decade ago. And a pediatrician who helped expose that lead problem has now launched a first-of-its-kind move to tackle poverty: giving every new mother $7,500 in cash aid over a year.

A baby's first year is crucial for development. It's also a time of peak poverty.

Flint's new cash transfer program, Rx Kids, starts during pregnancy. The first payment is $1,500 to encourage prenatal care. After delivery, mothers will get $500 a month over the baby's first year.

"What happens in that first year of life can really portend your entire life course trajectory. Your brain literally doubles in size in the first 12 months," says Hanna-Attisha, who's also a public health professor at Michigan State University.

A baby's birth is also a peak time for poverty. Being pregnant can force women to cut back hours or even lose a job. Then comes the double whammy cost of child care.

Research has found that stress from childhood poverty can harm a person's physical and mental health, brain development and performance in school. Infants and toddlers are more likely than older children to be put into foster care, for reasons that advocates say conflate neglect with poverty.

In Flint, where the child poverty rate is more than 50%, Hanna-Attisha says new moms are in a bind. "We just had a baby miss their 4-day-old appointment because mom had to go back to work at four days," she says...

Benefits of Cash Aid

Studies have found such payments reduce financial hardship and food insecurity and improve mental and physical health for both mothers and children.

The U.S. got a short-lived taste of that in 2021. Congress temporarily expanded the child tax credit, boosting payments and also sending them to the poorest families who had been excluded because they didn't make enough to qualify for the credit. Research found that families mostly spent the money on basic needs. The bigger tax credit improved families' finances and briefly cut the country's child poverty rate nearly in half.

"We saw food hardship dropped to the lowest level ever," Shaefer says. "And we saw credit scores actually go to the highest that they'd ever been in at the end of 2021."

Critics worried that the expanded credit would lead people to work less, but there was little evidence of that. Some said they used the extra money for child care so they could go to work.

As cash assistance in Flint ramps up, Shaefer will be tracking not just its impact on financial well-being, but how it affects the roughly 1,200 babies born in the city each year.

"We're going to see if expectant moms route into prenatal care earlier," he says. "Are they able to go more? And then we'll be able to look at birth outcomes," including birth weight and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admissions.

Since the pandemic, dozens of cash aid pilots have popped up across the nation. But unlike them, Rx Kids is not limited to lower-income households. It's universal, which means every new mom will get the same amount of money. "You pit people against each other when you draw that line in the sand and say, 'You don't need this, and you do,' " Shaefer says. It can also stigmatize families who get the aid, he says, as happened with traditional welfare...

So far, there's more than $43 million to keep the program going for three years. Funders include foundations, health insurance companies and the state of Michigan, which allocated a small part of its federal cash aid, known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

Money can buy more time for bonding with a baby

Alana Turner can't believe her luck with Flint's new cash benefits. "I was just shocked because of the timing of it all," she says.

Turner is due soon with her second child, a girl. She lives with her aunt and her 4-year-old son, Ace. After he was born, her car broke down and she was seriously cash-strapped, negotiating over bill payments. This time, she hopes she won't have to choose between basic needs.

"Like, I shouldn't have to think about choosing between are the lights going to be on or am I going to make sure the car brakes are good," she says...

But since she'll be getting an unexpected $7,500 over the next year, Turner has a new goal. With her first child, she was back on the job in less than six weeks. Now, she hopes she'll be able to slow down and spend more time with her daughter.

"I don't want to sacrifice the time with my newborn like I had to for my son, if I don't have to," she says."

-via NPR, March 12, 2024

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Week

1. ‘It was an accident’: the scientists who have turned humid air into renewable power

Greetings, readers! Welcome to our weekly dose of positivity and good vibes. In this edition, I've gathered a collection of uplifting stories that will surely bring a smile to your face. From scientific breakthroughs to environmental initiatives and heartwarming achievements, I've got it all covered.

In May, a team at the University of Massachusetts Amherst published a paper declaring they had successfully generated a small but continuous electric current from humidity in the air. They’ve come a long way since then. The result is a thin grey disc measuring 4cm across.

One of these devices can generate a relatively modest 1.5 volts and 10 milliamps. However, 20,000 of them stacked, could generate 10 kilowatt hours of energy a day – roughly the consumption of an average UK household. Even more impressive: they plan to have a prototype ready for demonstration in 2024.

2. Empty Office Buildings Are Being Turned Into Vertical Farms

Empty office buildings are being repurposed into vertical farms, such as Area 2 Farms in Arlington, Virginia. With the decline in office usage due to the Covid-19 pandemic, municipalities are seeking ways to fill vacant spaces.

Vertical farming systems like Silo and AgriPlay's modular growth systems offer efficient and adaptable solutions for converting office buildings into agricultural spaces. These initiatives not only address food insecurity but also provide economic opportunities, green jobs, and fresh produce to local communities, transforming urban centers in the process.

3. Biden-Harris Administration to Provide 804,000 Borrowers with $39 Billion in Automatic Loan Forgiveness as a Result of Fixes to Income Driven Repayment Plans

The Department of Education in the United States has announced that over 804,000 borrowers will have $39 billion in Federal student loans automatically discharged. This is part of the Biden-Harris Administration's efforts to fix historical failures in the administration of the student loan program and ensure accurate counting of monthly payments towards loan forgiveness.

The Department aims to correct the system and provide borrowers with the forgiveness they deserve, leveling the playing field in higher education. This announcement adds to the Administration's efforts, which have already approved over $116.6 billion in student loan forgiveness for more than 3.4 million borrowers.

4. F.D.A. Approves First U.S. Over-the-Counter Birth Control Pill

The move could significantly expand access to contraception. The pill is expected to be available in early 2024.

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved a birth control pill to be sold without a prescription for the first time in the United States, a milestone that could significantly expand access to contraception. The medication, called Opill, will become the most effective birth control method available over the counter

5. AIDS can be ended by 2030 with investments in prevention and treatment, UN says

It is possible to end AIDS by 2030 if countries demonstrate the political will to invest in prevention and treatment and adopt non-discriminatory laws, the United Nations said on Thursday.

In 2022, an estimated 39 million people around the world were living with HIV, according to UNAIDS, the United Nations AIDS program. HIV can progress to AIDS if left untreated.

6. Conjoined twins released from Texas Children’s Hospital after successfully separated in complex surgery

Conjoined twins are finally going home after the pair was safely separated during a complex surgery at Texas Children’s Hospital in June.

Ella Grace and Eliza Faith Fuller were in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for over four months after their birth on March 1. A large team of healthcare workers took six hours to complete the surgery on June 14. Seven surgeons, four anesthesiologists, four surgical nurses and two surgical technicians assisted with the procedure.

7. From villains to valued: Canadians show overwhelming support for wolves

Despite their record in popular culture, according to a recent survey, seven in 10 Canadians say they have a “very positive” view of the iconic predators. 

Here's a fascinating video about how wolves changed Yellowstone nat'l park:

----

That's it for this week :)

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Also don’t forget to reblog.

[katelynnwrites]

The Very First Night | Laura Freigang x Baby!Reader

warnings: mentions of preemie baby medical stuff

word count: 586

summary: your first night at home with your Mama isn't as smooth as she would have liked

a/n: part of Laura's Honigbiene

The first night that you are home with your Mama is the scariest of her life.

You are still so tiny, so fragile and she’s terrified to hold you without the nurses and doctors around.

You’d been so calm the whole way home from the hospital and for the first few hours that you spent alone with Laura.

Then you start crying.

And no matter what your Mama tries, you don’t stop.

She attempts to give you a feed but you refuse to accept the bottle. Your diaper is dry and she can’t figure out what’s wrong.

‘Please Honigbiene. Oh please you have to stop.’ She begs, cradling you in her arms as she paces the length of her apartment.

You are exhausting yourself with the way your little arms and legs flail around but your screaming doesn’t stop . Or even lessen and Laura is near tears herself.

‘Please baby please.’

She’s extremely worried now because your breaths are coming in sharp gasps and you seem to be choking on your own tears.

Your entire face is red and scrunched up, your Mama trying her best to soothe you.

You haven’t eaten in hours and the striker knows how crucial it is to get you to drink your milk.

As a preemie, your growth is even more important than that of a normal newborn.

It had been heavily monitored in the neonatal intensive care unit and you had been steadily putting on weight there.

Laura is anxious to have you continue your progress but she doesn’t know how to do that if you won’t even stop crying, let alone accept your bottle.

Your distressing cries take its toll on your Mama and she lets out a heartbroken sob.

‘Honigbiene, I’m sorry but I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.’ She whispers.

It’s already in the middle of the night and Laura is seriously considering just getting you in the car and taking you back to the hospital.

She wants to call her own mother for advice but it’s too late for that. She is certainly asleep by now.

Desperately, she tries one last thing.

Lying against the headboard of her bed, your Mama strips her shirt and bra off and you of your onesie.

She rests you against her bare chest, hands carefully holding you in place.

‘Let this work please. Please baby, you have to calm down. All this crying isn’t good for your breathing.’

The German woman hasn’t given you kangaroo care in a while, not since the doctors told her she could safely cradle you in the hospital.

But she hasn’t forgotten how much you love it.

‘Mama’s here Honigbiene.’ She murmurs, gently wiping away some of your falling tears.

Laura thinks she must be imagining it when your sobbing starts to taper off.

Then she realises she’s not because with one final hiccup, you quiet down.

‘Is this what you wanted?’ She half laughs, half sighs with relief.

Gingerly, she reaches for your bottle and her relief intensifies when you begin to drink eagerly.

There’s only the soft sound of your sucking filling the room and she soaks in the much more peaceful atmosphere.

The feeling of your body against her chest calms Mama down as much as it does you.

Your Mama keeps her eyes on you, watching carefully as you drain the bottle.

‘You’re going to be okay, Honigbiene. We’re going to be okay because we’ll figure it out as we go along. I love you so much.’ She promises.

German Translation:

Honigbiene - Honeybee

[ixlander]

         What is the family? So deep runs the idea that the family is the exclusive place where people are safe, where people come from, where people are made, and where people belong, it doesn’t even feel like an idea anymore. Let us unpick it, then.          The family is the reason we are supposed to want to go to work, the reason we have to go to work, and the reason we can go to work. It is, at root, the name we use for the fact that care is privatized in our society. And because it feels synonymous with care, “family” is every civic-minded individual’s raison d’être par excellence: an ostensibly non-individualist creed and unselfish principle to which one voluntarily signs up without thinking about it. What alternative could there be? The economic assumption that behind every “breadwinner” there is a private someone (or someones) worth being exploited for, notably some kind of wife—that is, a person who is likely a breadwinner too—“freely” making sandwiches with the hard-won bread, or hiring someone else to do so, vacuuming up the crumbs, and refrigerating leftovers, such that more bread can be won tomorrow: this feels to many of us like a description of “human nature.”          Without the family, who or what would take responsibility for the lives of non-workers, including the ill, the young, and the elderly? This question is a bad one. We don’t hesitate to say that nonhuman animals are better off outside of zoos, even if alternative habitats for them are growing scarcer and scarcer and, moreover, they have become used to the abusive care of zoos. Similarly: transition out of the family will be tricky, yes, but the family is doing a bad job at care, and we all deserve better. The family is getting in the way of alternatives.          In part, the vertiginous question “what’s the alternative?” arises because it is not just the worker (and her work) that the family gives birth to every day, in theory. The family is also the legal assertion that a baby, a neonatal human, is the creation of the familial romantic dyad; and that this act of authorship in turn generates, for the authors, property rights in “their” progeny—parenthood—but also quasi-exclusive accountability for the child’s life. The near-total dependence of the young person on these guardians is portrayed not as the harsh lottery that it patently is, but rather as “natural,” not in need of social mitigation, and, furthermore, beautiful for all concerned. Children, it is proposed, benefit from having only one or two parents and, at best, a few other “secondary” caregivers. Parents, it is supposed, derive nothing so much as joy from the romance of this isolated intensity. Constant allusions to the hellworld of sheer exhaustion parents inhabit notwithstanding, their condition is sentimentalized to the nth degree: it is downright taboo to regret parenthood. All too seldom is parenthood identified as an absurdly unfair distribution of labor, and a despotic distribution of responsibility for and power over younger people. A distribution that could be changed.         Like a microcosm of the nation-state, the family incubates chauvinism and competition. Like a factory with a billion branches, it manufactures “individuals” with a cultural, ethnic, and binary gender identity; a class; and a racial consciousness. Like an infinitely renewable energy source, it performs free labor for the market. Like an “organic element of historical progress,” writes Anne McClintock in Imperial Leather, it worked for imperialism as an image of hierarchy-within-unity that grew “indispensable for legitimating exclusion and hierarchy” in general. For all these reasons, the family functions as capitalism’s base unit—in Mario Mieli’s phrase, “the cell of the social tissue.” It may be easier to imagine the end of capitalism, as I’ve riffed elsewhere, than the end of the family. But everyday utopian experiments do generate strands of an altogether different social tissue: micro-cultures which could be scaled up if the movement for a classless society took seriously the premise that households can be formed freely and run democratically; the principle that no one shall be deprived of food, shelter, or care because they don’t work.

Sophie Lewis, Abolish the Family

[girlactionfigure]

At this very moment in a hospital in Israel, in a specialized neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), an intensive care unit for babies, receiving life-saving treatment, is no other than Ismael Haniya’s sister’s grandson. Ismael Haniyah is the Hamas leader, responsible for still holding 136 hostages, who publicly celebrated the massacre on October 7.

More than anything, this shows the difference between us, those who sanctify life, and our enemy, those who seek to destroy it.

I’m proud to be part of the Jewish people.

jonnydaniels

[good-old-gossip]

“Here is the biggest tragedy. Even if this child survives, she was born an orphan.”

A baby girl was delivered an emergency cesarean section from the womb of her mother, who was killed in an Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip.

The baby’s family, like thousands of displaced Palestinians, were seeking shelter in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah. On Saturday night an Israeli air strike hit their residence, killing her father, mother and four-year-old sister.

Despite inadequate equipment, medical workers were able to stabilise the newborn’s critical condition by administering air into her mouth and gently tapping her chest.

The baby, weighing 1.4 kg, was stable and improving gradually, said Mohammed Salama, a doctor caring for her. Her mother, Sabreen al-Sakani, had been 30 weeks pregnant.

Following the air strike, she was transferred to an incubator at a nearby hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit with the words “The baby of the martyr Sabreen al-Sakani” written on tape across her chest.

At least 19 people, including 13 children, were killed overnight in intensified strikes on Rafah, Palestinian health officials said. Asked about the casualties in Rafah, an Israeli military spokesperson said various militant targets were struck in Gaza including military compounds, launch posts and armed people.

“Did you see one man in all of those killed?” said Saqr Abdel Aal, a Palestinian man whose family members were among the dead, grieving over the body of a child in a white shroud.

“All are women and children. My entire identity has been wiped out, with my wife, children and everyone.”

📸: Reuters/Mohammed Salem