Photograph by Jonathan Pollock
With nearly 1,200 families using the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at St. John’s Mercy Children’s Hospital annually, the place can get chaotic. Dr. Gary Dreyer, the unit’s medical director, compares the old facility’s atmosphere to a casino, “with lots of bright lights, noises, alarms, bells, and whistles. You can really feel your heart rate and blood pressure change as you get into the old ward environment.”
“The nurses were overstimulated when they went home from work,” recalls nurse manager Michelle Sprague. “They couldn’t even turn on the radio or watch television.”
Fortunately, that nerve-racking environment has improved dramatically. A new, Level III NICU now boasts single-family private rooms, referred to as “pods,” where mothers spend quality time with their babies in a calm environment. The hospital’s first such room opened last June; St. John’s Mercy now has 46 total and will continue to expand when a new hospital tower opens next year. (Other pediatric medical centers like Children’s Hospital and Cardinal Glennon have similar private NICU rooms, but St. John’s is reportedly St. Louis County’s only medical center with Level III NICU care.)
Such privacy benefits families tenfold. As opposed to the traditional, ward-style NICU—where babies lie in rows and mothers sometimes must sign up to use a recliner, with just a curtain for privacy—new rooms have recliners, breast pumps, daybeds, and nurse’s supply carts. Mom and Dad can rest in the same room as their preterm or sick infant and feel more comfortable in an already-stressful situation.
Built with dim lights and noise-dampening ceiling tile, the result is a more soothing atmosphere. Such an environment is important for premature infants, explains Dreyer, because “babies are supposed to be in the dark and muffled environment of the womb until about 38 to 40 weeks.” The additional privacy and proximity of the baby and mother also allow the mother to breastfeed in private and spend more time engaging in “kangaroo care,” where the baby lies on the mother’s chest, helping maintain the baby’s body temperature and foster bonding. For patients and their families, it can make a life-changing difference.
