The birth of a baby is a time of joy and celebration. However, having a newborn in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) can be a time fraught with fear and anxiety. So, a newborn who graduates from the NICU is one of the most precious reasons to celebrate.
Sponsored by the Medical Center Auxiliary, Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) has hosted a NICU “reunion” every year for six years and this year was no exception. This highly anticipated event reunites families of premature babies who have graduated from NGMC’s NICU with the medical staff who cared for them.
This year’s festivities took place on Saturday, September 30, 2017.
With about 300 guests attending day, the event brought together NICU graduates and staff members from both the Gainesville and Braselton NGMC hospital campuses.
The reunion serves as a time to celebrate the progress the NICU graduates have made, and to allow the the medical staff to reconnect with the families they’ve spent so much time caring for.
Appropriately, “Superheroes” was the theme for the day. The event featured NICU staff as well as staff from the mother/baby department, who took photos of the children in superhero costumes. The Gainesville Fire Department, Hall County Fire Department, Hall County Sheriff’s Office, a Storm Trooper Superhero, a face-painter, and a balloon artist were all on hand to interact with the children and their families. There were also game stations, food, drinks, and cake.
According to Brittany Smith, MSNEd., RN, Nurse Manager, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, “For the staff it is truly about a ‘family reunion.’ Being in the NICU is a very difficult time for babies and their families and it’s very exciting to see how well our NICU graduates and their families are doing now. It is great to see them thrive.”
She adds, “There were graduates that were born as early as 24 weeks, as well as multiples including twins, triplets and quadruplets.”
