It's A Blog!
How to Talk With Parents of Infants With HIE
In this recently published article, a NICU research team from Maine Medical Center in the US interviewed 30 parents and grandparents of infants who had received cooling for HIE within the last 24 months. These parents candidly share their stories and provide us with...
Is aEEG a Foreign Language To You?
I don't know about you, but I actually enjoy the challenge in learning a foreign language. My language of choice is Spanish and since I recently purchased a home in Mexico, my skills have really been put to the test. I started to realize that my vacation Spanish (una...
Developmental Care Book Club : Month Two
The 2nd month of the developmental care book club was held on May 29th. We reviewed our first two chapters from the Developmental Care Text Book (NANN, 2009). Chapter 2 and Chapter 7. Chapter 2 focused on the theoretical framework of developmental care, definitions...
Being a Mom in the NICU
As a new mom, the NICU is a spectacular place in theory, especially if it isn’t necessary for my baby. We are grateful for its existence as a precaution, but obviously don’t want to face the reality of needing what it provides. And truly, no new mom really believes...
Therapeutic Normothermia for infants with HIE
We are all well aware of the use of therapeutic hypothermia for infants with HIE, so what the heck do I mean "therapeutic normothermia"?? In the Randomized Control Trials (RCT's) performed around the world to establish the effectiveness of therapeutic hypothermia,...
The 4 B’s of Neurodevelopment – Optimizing Brain Development
When we think of optimizing neuro-development we probably should start pre-natally with things like maternal nutrition, exposures, and infection. Although these things definitely contribute to the infant's brain development before the are admitted to the NICU,...
The Pillars of a NeuroNICU: Neuro Development
I think we can all agree, there is not a one-size or one-time fits all strategy for babies in the NICU. And this is especially true when we talk about providing "developmental care". Over the years, there have been a growing number of synonyms for neuro-developmental...
The Pillars of a NeuroNICU: Neuro Protection
Neonatal brain injury presents in a variety of ways depending on the timing and location of the injury, and the availability and application of timely interventions. Regardless of the etiology, these injuries have the potential to impact a infant's life-long...
5 Easy Steps to Read any aEEG
Do you find reading aEEG stressfull? After teaching aEEG for more than 10 years, one of the most common requests I get is how to read aEEG. I know that reading aEEG can seem a bit tricky when you first get started, but I promise, with a little practice you will feel...
The Pillars of a NeuroNICU: Neuro Monitoring
Since the founding days of NICU's we have been continuously monitoring babies' heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure, and in the last 25 years continuous oxygen saturation monitoring has become the standard of care.. but what about the brain? Isn't the...