Covenant Children’s has introduced a new way for families, like the Strachan-Forte’s, to keep an eye on their babies while they stay in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit.
Camille Strachan-Forte, was pregnant with twins and due soon, when she said she checked into Covenant Children’s in February.
She said both of her sons were born on March 6, 2019, but five days later, the family faced a tragedy.
“His brother passed after five days,” Strachan-Forte said.
Her other newborn, Carson, is now six weeks old, but is still in the NICU.
“We have been away from home for a long time,” she said.
Covenant Children’s introduced the new cameras to the NICU a week ago, allowing Strachan-Forte and her family to keep an eye on Carson.
“It’s great,” she said. “I trust the nurses. I trust the doctors. But it’s nice to be able to peek in and see his personality when no one is around.”
The family is given a password to the camera’s live stream, and the family can share it with anyone they want around the world.
Since Strachan-Forte and her husband are in the military, and her family is spread throughout the U.S., she said its a big help.
“It’s been great to have them involved because we are far away from home,” she said. “I am from North Carolina, his dad is from Philidelphia. We are all the way across the country and this is first grandbaby. It’s nice everyone can feel a part of it even though he is not home yet.”
Tiffany Patterson, the nurse educator for the NICU at Covenant Children’s said it also gives nurses the opportunity to check-in on the newborns and communicate with family.
“It makes it nice for that family centered care and we do everything we can to keep them bonded or involved,” she said.
In its first week live, the cameras were streamed more than 1,300 times.
“I have looked maybe five times a day,” Strachan-Forte said.
