Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Luke Cunningham | 201222-N-LW757-1303 SAN DIEGO (Dec. 22, 2020) Parents embrace their child in Naval...... read more read more
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SAN DIEGO – Naval Medical Center San Diego's (NMCSD) Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) celebrated its newborns during a Christmas Cuties holiday event Dec. 22.
NICU staff, along with parents, dressed the newborns in holiday-themed clothing to highlight the Christmas season, and take some of the families' focus off the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
This is NMCSD's NICU's first Christmas Cuties celebration.
"I wanted to take the opportunity to highlight the babies in the NICU," said Lt. Cmdr. Jamie Overbey, NMCSD's NICU director. "I wanted to take people's mind off the coronavirus pandemic, even for a brief moment, and to show them that there are still positive things happening [in the world]."
The holiday outfits were made by NICU staff, then gifted to parents of NICU babies.
The families were offered a photo shoot with the babies in their outfits to celebrate their first Christmas together.
Overbey said one of the hardest things during the holiday season for families with newborns in the NICU is not having their whole families home.
"The hardest thing for families is when the mom gets discharged from the hospital, but the baby doesn't," said Overbey. "I think that is amplified during the holiday season when everyone is posting pictures, talking about their families being at home together and participating in holiday traditions."
Overbey continued on to say that the Christmas Cuties event was meant to bring a bit of normalcy into the unit.
"It takes the parents away from feeling like they are in a hospital," said Ana Trombley, a registered nurse assigned to NMCSD's NICU. "The happiness the parents feel when they see their babies in cute outfits puts everyone in the holiday spirit."
Families with newborns in the NICU often face unique challenges, no matter what time of year. NMCSD's NICU staff are dedicated to providing high-quality care for its newborns, along with offering parents an uplifting experience during this holiday season.
NMCSD’s mission is to prepare service members to deploy in support of operational forces, deliver high quality healthcare services and shape the future of military medicine through education, training and research. NMCSD employs more than 6,000 active duty military personnel, civilians and contractors in Southern California to provide patients with world-class care anytime, anywhere.
Visit navy.mil or facebook.com/NMCSD for more information.
| Date Taken: | 12.22.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 12.23.2020 16:39 |
| Story ID: | 385742 |
| Location: | SAN DIEGO, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 56 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, NMCSD's NICU Highlights Christmas Cuties, by PO2 Luke Cunningham, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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