NICU Now Episode 10: Understanding Developmental Care in the NICU

01/25/17 • 33 min

Parenting in the NICU can be quite overwhelming. One of the first tasks parents face is to understand the role of the many different medical professionals treating our baby. To help us better understand the role of neonatal therapists in the NICU is Sue Ludwig. Sue is a licensed occupational therapist who has been practicing in the NICU at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center for over 20 years. She is passionate about improving quality of life for NICU babies.

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NICU Now Episode 9:The Father's Perspective

During pregnancy, mothers have intimate, physical bonds with their baby. They are typically a little more excited about the purchase of maternity clothes, finding the softest baby blankets, and picking the best diaper bag. And they usually have sharper images and stronger expectations of the dream of a perfect birth. But fathers have dreams too, and their shattered expectations and inability to keep their wife and child safe during a traumatic birth may be very overwhelming.

They may witness their child struggling for life at birth. They may find themselves faced with making critical medical decisions for their child while their wife is still in recovery. They often struggle to support their wives emotionally and find themselves exhausted as they try to balance life in the NICU, work and often other children at home.

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NICU Now Episode 11: The Healing Power of Music in the NICU

JJ Heller is a singer/songwriter from Nashville, TN. She writes songs for just about every season of life. Over the course of her nearly 14-year career, she has had two songs chart at number 13 on the billboard charts, Your Hands from her 2008 album Painted Red and What Love Really Means from her album When I'm with You. Her husband Dave co-writes, plays guitar, shoots and edits her videos, and manages her career. Together they are raising two beautiful little girls who often appear on her Instagram and Facebook feeds.

In 2014, JJ recorded I Dream of You, an album of lullabies and songs about motherhood. In 2016, JJ committed to donate one copy of the album for every album purchased. To date, JJ has donated almost 10,000 CDs and over 17,000 digital copies of I Dream of You to charity – including to Hand to Hold for NICU families.