Innovative chair transforms neonatal care for dads at Grey Nuns Community Hospital
October 3, 2024
By Peter Rybar, social media advisor
Brad Brady had experienced the birth of his first two children, but something was different when his third child, Beau James, was born at the Grey Nuns Community Hospital in Edmonton. What made the experience stand out was a special chair — a new, innovative piece of equipment that allowed Brad to bond with his newborn son in a way he couldn’t with his other children.
“The baby was put skin-to-skin with me right away in the delivery room. Then they wheeled us around for a couple of hours before taking him to the NICU. It was such a slick process,” says Brad.
The new chair being used at the Grey Nuns hospital allows fathers like Brad to continue skin-to-skin contact while their newborn is transported and admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Previously, babies would spend a brief period skin-to-skin with their mothers before being bundled up and transferred, and fathers often weren’t involved in that early bonding. Now, using the new chair, dads can be an integral part of their baby’s life from the moment of birth.
Lauren Roberts and the NICU team at the Grey Nuns hope the new transfer chair will become a standard feature in neonatal care.
Skin-to-skin care, where a newborn is placed directly on the parent's bare chest, is well-known for its physical and emotional benefits. Research from the Canadian Paediatric Society has shown that it stabilizes the baby’s heart rate, breathing and body temperature while helping to regulate blood sugar levels. Skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth also strengthens the bond between parent and child, reducing stress and fostering emotional well-being.
The purchase of the special chair for the Grey Nuns NICU was made possible through funding from Covenant Foundation with support from the Associates of Caritas. And since its introduction at the hospital last spring, staff have seen the benefits of using the chair for skin-to-skin care.
“We've had some really great feedback from staff,” says Lauren Roberts, assistant head nurse for the NICU. “Other sites are even looking at how they might implement it.”
Lauren and her team are continuously advocating for a practice they call "zero separation," an effort to keep babies with their parents as much as possible, even in the NICU.
"Our team really advocated for this chair, and now we're using it to support parents, particularly dads, during that critical time of transfer."
Although happy with this new process improvement, the NICU team has continuous innovation in mind. “We’re focusing on using (the chair) for stable babies right now, but the goal is to expand it so we can even provide respiratory support while still maintaining skin-to-skin contact,” says Lauren.
The NICU team at the Grey Nuns hospital is optimistic about the future of skin-to-skin care, says Lauren. As more hospitals take note of this new chair and its benefits, the hope is that it will become a standard feature in neonatal care, ensuring that all parents, especially dads, can have those early moments of connection with their newborns.
“Every day, we see the difference it makes when families feel connected right from the start,” says Lauren. “This chair is just one step in our ongoing commitment to providing the best care possible.”
For Brad, using the chair is “a no-brainer.” He would recommend it to other fathers whose babies need to be transferred to the NICU. “Skin-to-skin is so important, and to have this chair ready to go makes it easier for everyone,” he says.