Hundreds of NICU graduates and their families reunited with doctors and nurses from Baptist Health System Sunday, celebrating the milestones reached since leaving the neonatal intensive care unit.
“We take care of the tiniest patients and they can be very sick at times,” said Dr. Jaclyn Levan, a neonatologist at Baptist Health System. “To reconnect with those parents and be able to see how well that baby is doing outside of the NICU is really why we’re doing this.”
More than 400,000 babies are born prematurely every year in the U.S., according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). For their families, the NICU is a world most never expect to enter.
Laura Riddell, a mother of four whose triplets spent more than 20 days in the NICU, knows that feeling well. Now in her fourth year attending Baptist Health System’s reunion, she says the sense of community keeps bringing her back.
“When you’re in the NICU sometimes you do feel alone and so seeing all of these people coming together that have walked that walk with you, it’s just nice to have that community and that support,” Riddell said.
She added that watching the children grow makes each reunion meaningful.
“Just seeing how much these babies thrive, seeing how my babies have thrived, just also being here to talk to other parents who are new in this journey,” Riddell said.
Dr. Levan says the care her team provides goes beyond the hospital walls and it doesn’t end at discharge.
“It’s great for the staff to be able to reconnect with those parents. NICU babies are in the NICU sometimes for a week, even up to several months of age. And so we really develop a strong bond with those families,” Levan said.
For families like Riddell’s, that bond carries on long after leaving the hospital.
“They are truly invested in the health and well-being of our babies,” Riddell said.
Organizers say the event honors families’ strength and resilience following NICU Awareness Month, observed in September. For these families, the NICU was just the beginning.
