EACH SEPTEMBER WE CELEBRATE NICU AWARENESS NICU Awareness Month is designed to honor families experiencing a stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and the health professionals who care for the them. The National Perinatal Association, in collaboration with Project Sweet Peas, has created this toolkit to help you raise NICU Awareness. |
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We've gathered these resources - created by an interdisciplinary team of parents and professionals - to celebrate and honor our NICU experiences. Join us in these observances:
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We are proud to partner with passionate advocates like our colleagues at 1,000 Days to promote awareness - and action - on the issues that matter most to our NICU community like:
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NICU Families and Nutrition | Nutrition plays a huge role for NICU families. Learn more in this video with Feeding Matters. And special thanks to our partners at 1,000 Days for helping us focus on NICU awareness! Host: Denys Symonette Mitchell, Policy & Advocacy Consultant for 1,000 Day Experts:
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FREE RESOURCES |
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NICU Families and Health Policy
| What's it like for a NICU family who doesn't have paid leave? How do we meet families health insurance coverage needs? In honor of NICU Awareness Month, listen to Erika Goyer, a Family Advocate from the National Perinatal Association and Denys Symonette Mitchell, Policy & Advocacy Consultant for 1,000 Days talk about those experiences and why family-friendly supports are so important. |
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1,000 Days The 1,000 days between a woman’s pregnancy and her child’s 2nd birthday offer a unique window of opportunity to build healthier and more prosperous futures. Learn more about issue facing U.S. families in their first 1,000 days.
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Feeding Matters Feeding Matters is the first organization in the world uniting families, healthcare professionals, and the broader community to improve the system of care for children with pediatric feeding disorder through advocacy, education, support, and research.
|  NICU Awareness Make a commitment to inspire hope this September for Neonatal Intensive Care Awareness (NICA) Month. NICA Month is designed to honor families experiencing a stay in the NICUand the health professionals who care for them.
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Did You Know? It's not just preemies.
- Advances in neonatal medicine mean that more infants can benefit from the specialized care that NICUs can offer.
- Nearly half of all babies in the NICU are born at normal birthweight and are 37 weeks gestation or older.
- We need to do more research and collect more data. While the efficacy of NICU care for premature babies is undeniable, we don’t yet know if this is true for the entire NICU cohort.
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When a Baby Needs Specialized Care |
Pregnancy is a time filled with hope and expectation. Every family hopes for an uncomplicated birth and a healthy baby. But sometimes the unexpected happens. Every year more than half a million babies are admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit, otherwise known as a NICU. |
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NICUs Exemplify Interdisciplinary Collaboration |
Caring for infants isn't like caring for other patients; babies aren't tiny adults. Neonatology is a highly specialized field. Providing specialized care for neonates requires expertise and teamwork. When a baby is in the NICU they will be cared for by a team of professionals that includes, but is not limited to: |
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Babies receive care for both prenatally-diagnosed conditions and emergent health issues, including:
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Print & Share Print and Share these Fact Sheets. |
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Neonatal Nurses Week September 14th - 20th |
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NICU Awareness Month Observances |
NICU Staff Recognition September 28th
Every day hospital professionals in the NICU commit themselves to providing exceptional care to the tiniest of patients and their families. September 28th is a day to honor NICU staff members.
Download 5 Ways to Give Back to Your NICU
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NICU Remembrance Day On September 26th we honor the parents of babies whose lives were too brief Every year thousands of families must say goodbye to their baby in the emergency room, Labor & Deliver, or the NICU. On this special day we are honoring the lives of these little ones and the families that love them.
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Sibling Support Day September 29th is a day to honor all NICU siblings. We recognize that a NICU stay not only impacts parents, but their children at home as well. Siblings need support, love, and encouragement to help them through this journey. We've created this coloring page for siblings that you can download, print, and share. And now we have a version in Spanish too!
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| Visit Project Sweet Peas' website. Project Sweet Peas created Neonatal Awareness Month to honor families experiencing a stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and the health professionals who care for the them. |
