The NICU Reunion, WIC

1
The NICU Reunion, WIC MOD

• Presented by Tamothy E. Holden and Vanja Petrovic

2
What is the NICU Reunion?

• An event held annually to celebrate those infants
  who did and did not survive the Neonatal
  Intensive Care Unit at Maine Medical Center.

3
The NICU Reunion is also...

• A day for parents to make connections and share
  stories with other parents who also went through
  the NICU experience.
• A day to reunite with the caregivers who helped
  make life possible for these infants.
• A day of education and information concerning
  infant care.

4
Who Attends?

• Parents
• NICU infants
• Siblings
• Friends
• Doctors and Nurses (although not always
  available).
• Educational Partners (e.g., WIC, MOD).and...

5
Who Attends?

• The media
• And most importantly the VOLUNTEERS!!
  Other NICU parents, MMC staff, Nursing
  students, Nursing professors and other family and
  friends of the volunteers.

6
Is there any planning involved?

• Lots!!!
• Meetings began February 2003.
• Meetings may be year round after this year.
• Volunteers meet monthly and plan, plan, and plan.

7
What needs to be done?

• The space needs to be reserved.
• The date needs to be set.
• Invitations need to be made and sent out.
• Companies need to be called or visited for
  donations.
• Educational partners need to be called.
• Games and prizes need to be gathered.

8
What needs to be done? Cont

• Volunteers need to be gathered.
• Signs need to be made for educational partners,
  for outside the event, and for bathrooms.
• Name tags need to be made as well as registration
  information (which should be alphabetized).
• Food needs to be donated, bought or made.

9
What needs to be done? Cont...

• A digital camera, photo paper, and printer need
  to be found.
• And who could forget putting together the scrap
  book.
• More???

10
What happens that day?

• Set up begins early in the morning with the
  volunteerstables out, games up, signs posted,
  educational partners and other events situated,
  organization is a mustdoes anyone have the
  coffee??
• Parents and children begin to arrive. Someone
  needs to direct parking. Volunteers in their
  places. Anyone floating for breaks?

11
What else happens that day?

• Make sure parents sign in.
• Snacks and food are hopefully available.
• Games, Crafts, Tattoos (fake), Pictures,
  Educational Tables, Car Seat Safety, Look How We
  Have Grown Pictures, The Angel Ambulance, Fire
  Truck, Prizes
• Old friends reunite and new friends made.

12
Who came for Educational Partners in the Fall of
2003?

• Angel Ambulance
• Scarborough Fire Department
• WIC
• March of Dimes
• Raising Readers
• Car Seat Safety
• See and Touch Tank.

13
Who came for Educational Partners in the Fall of
2003?

• Babies R Us
• USM Nursing!

14
What went smoothly?

• Lots of volunteers, esp. USM nursing students and
  one business major.
• Many parents used the car seat safety check
  point.
• We were organized.
• Almost all the educational vendors came.
• We had fun, and it was sunny!!

15
What could be done better?

• We need an official committee! (chair person,
  treasurer, secretary, etc.)
• Making sure we provide lunch for everyone.
• Having more education on prevention of
  prematurity.
• A boost in entertainment? How about a slide
  show, play, puppet show, or magic show?

16
What could be done better?

• Getting MMC involved and having it there. The
  politics?!
• Do we need to meet every month? Does this cause
  people to fizzle out?
• How about having t-shirts for staff and there to
  sell?
• We need nurses and doctors there! How?

17
How did we do this year?

• Who cameless families than 2002?
• How many volunteers31
• And yes Watson is always there! Remember he is
  not a mascot though?

18
Want to be involved and make a difference?

• Contact Cheryl Horton at
  email
  Cb1ironic_at_aol.com
• 
  

19
WIC - Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for
Nutrition, Infants and Children

• What is WIC?
• WIC provides nutritious food, nutrition
  counseling, and referrals to health and other
  social services to participants at no charge.

20
How does WIC help?

• WIC may be able to help you if
• You are pregnant or have recently given birth.
• Low income or no income.
• You have a nutrition or health problem.

21
Who is eligible?

• Specifically
• Pregnant or postpartum women.
• Breastfeeding women.
• Infants
• Children up to age 5 School lunch program
  begins here

22
Length of time you can stay on WIC.

• If you are pregnant.
• If you are postpartum and breastfeeding.
• If you are postpartum and not breastfeedingup to
  6 months.

23
Everyone who is eligible may not get WIC benefits

• Priority system
• Pregnant women
• Breastfeeding women
• Infants

24
Food Provided by WIC

• Iron fortified infant formula
• Infant cereal
• Iron fortified adult cereal
• Fruits and vegetables
• And juice, milk, eggs, cheese, p.b., dried beans,
  peas, tuna fish and carrots.

25
What did USM nursing do?

• Heights (or lengths)
• Weights
• Hemoglobin checks
• Head circumference
• Growth charts
• Prenatal weight gain charts
• Plotting data

26
Who to contact?

• Jill McPhail _at_ 874-1140, ext. 327 (Supervising
  Program Manager).

27
March of Dimes (MOD)

• Mission
• To improve the health of babies by preventing
  birth defects and infant mortality.

28
Born too soon and too small in ME

• In an average week in Maine...
• 26 babies are preterm
• 4 born very preterm
• 16 low birth weight
• 3 very low birth weight

29
Stats in Maine

• 2001 - 9.9 of babies were born preterm
• 2010 - U.S. objective is to decrease it to 7.6
• 2001 - 6.0 of babies were born with low birth
  weights
• 2010 - U.S. objective is to decrease it to 5.0

30
Target Population

• Females from age 14 to 24
• Women who are trying to get pregnant
• Any woman of child-bearing age
• And women who are already pregnant
• Health care providers
• And the general public

31
What can we do?

• Distribute information on folic acid, prematurity
  and s/s of preterm labor.
• Conduct presentation on the dangers of
  prematurity and low birth weight infants.
• Address the issue of prematurity in every
  community.
• Promote radio, television and print ads to
  increase awareness.

32
What can we do? Cont

• Conduct annual awareness surveys.
• Educate women on s/s of premature labor.
• Support parents in NICU with educational
  materials.
• Educate both the medical and nursing community.
• November MOD website - donate 1.00

33
Thank you for listening!!