Jennifer's Story: A Tale of 2 NICUs

Joshua and Jennifer Balson are no strangers to Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs). Both of their children required NICU care.

However, Jennifer reported that the family's experiences in the NICUs at two different hospitals were like night and day.

"The other NICU wasn’t connected to the mother’s room," she explained about the hospital where her oldest, Samantha, was born. "At birth, she was taken from me and I was still kind of out of it because of the C-section. I didn’t even really remember meeting her. From then on out, she was separated from me. I was in my room for four days and barely able to get out into the NICU. I think it was even on a different floor. I felt very disconnected from my firstborn, not knowing what was going on and uncertain about what they were doing and really even the whole experience. It was my first experience and I didn’t really know what to expect. In general, it felt like I had no idea what was going on. I felt very disconnected and suffered from separation anxiety."

After Samantha was born at 35 weeks gestation, the couple was glad when baby Peter made it to 39 weeks before he was born at Mercy's Birthplace & NICU in August 2022. Even so, they knew that he would need to spend at least some time in the NICU – and it comforted them to know that he would be with them the whole time.

"A key component of why I chose Mercy was because I knew he wasn’t going to be separated from me," Jennifer said, explaining that Peter's NICU stay extended to eight days. "During those eight days, even though they were extremely difficult and exhausting, it was a very sweet time to be with Peter. I never once missed a single thing. I was there for every feeding, every cry, every noise he made, and it was such a wonderful experience being so connected and so knowledgeable about what was going on with my child."

Jennifer wanted to be sure to share with other expecting parents considering Mercy for the birth of their babies: "Besides the food being amazing – the fact that, just in case, if there’s a NICU experience, you will not be separated. It's so important to your healing and your connection with your baby and your overall wellbeing. It is so much better to be with your child, no matter how long that NICU ends up taking. No matter how long you’re in there, you will always have access to your baby."

She added, "The NICU nurses – all of them – are absolutely amazing and willing to go the extra mile over and over again. I appreciate every single one we encountered! Also, the doctors were outstanding, as well, because they listened to the input of the nurses and addressed my concerns seriously."

At Mercy, 100% of our birth suites are equipped with NICU technology. Learn more at: www.mercycare.org/nicu.