Maple Grove Hospital Installs Cameras for Parents to See Babies in NICU
Maple Grove Hospital is using new technology that allows parents to watch their babies in the NICU. The live video feed is viewable by parents 24/7, so they can watch the baby from home and they can share the link with friends and family too. Nurses can also leave notes for parents on the system too.
New Technology
For parents, having a newborn in intensive care is distressing enough. Then, factor in COVID which places limits on visitors. But the new technology at the Maple Grove Hospital NICU is helping families feel better connected.
Jen Nelson, assistant nurse manager for Maple Grove Hospital Family Birth Center, said COVID-19 isn’t the only thing forcing families away.
“We have babies that are here, they can be born as early as 23 weeks. They will be here for a long time. At that point mom may have gone back to work as well,” Nelson explained.
Some moms will need to be away to care for other children. That’s why, even before the pandemic, the hospital put in orders for a new technology called NICView. It just so happened that the tool arrived during a time when hospitals began restricting visitors.
“It does a live video feed of baby 24/7,” explained Nelson. “Parents are able to log into a secure website where they can watch that live feed at any point in time.”
Maple Grove Hospital NICView.
The hospital received the cameras through donations from the North Memorial Foundation and the Minnesota Neonatal Foundation.
Nelson explained that the cameras are mounted by the newborns bedside. Parents get a URL link with a username and passcode. That link can be shared to family members.
“Additionally, if mom is COVID positive and can’t come in and if dad is ill and can’t come in, then they can use that to see baby at home too,” said Nelson.
Nurses also have the capability to leave messages to parents on nap, bathing and feeding updates. While the cameras keep parents actively involved with the infants care team, it also prepares them to care for their little one when it’s time to go home.
