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Dr. Melinda Elliott acknowledged the amount of stress that a parent may feel when they come into the NICU to see their baby. “At first, the NICU can be overwhelming for parents — with many unfamiliar sights, sounds, routines, and terminology.”
One thing you may have to come to terms with quickly is that “you may not be able to hold him or her right away” since they may be in an isolette. They might also be connected to a variety of medical devices. Those devices may include “an intravenous catheter (IV) in one of the baby’s veins or a special catheter in the umbilical cord,” Dr. Elliot explained. That’s how the baby is getting nutrients, fluids, and any “critical medications.”
Your baby may also be connected to different monitors tracking their vital signs, so there is the potential to “hear a lot of beeps and alarms. It can be a very disturbing experience for a new parent.”
If there’s any reassurance to be found in the possibly overwhelming sounds in the NICU, it’s that the close monitoring of your baby’s vitals is “providing your NICU team with information to make critical decisions about your baby’s care,” Dr. Elliott said. “Try to remember that it is all there to take great care of your newborn.”
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