Latest / Motherhood Alliance Podcast / Bringing Your NICU Baby Home: What to Expect & How to Prepare w/ Serenity Mason | The Milk Grove
Transcript
- Britney: Hi, we are Brit and Drea from motherhoodalliance.com and we are excited to welcome you to a new three episode series with Serenity a nurse, international board certified lactation consultant, certified postpartum doula, certified postpartum transition coach, and the founder of the Milk Grove. With over 10 years of experience of supporting high risk pregnancies, caring for premature and medically complex infants in the NICU. Hey Serenity, welcome to the podcast. We are really excited to learn from you. You have so much background and you're going to share about that in this first episode. But just NICU background. Also you're an IBCLC so that's like a highly trained lactation consultant. You're a postpartum doula. You just have your hands in so many arenas that people really need in this season of life. So we're excited to learn from you. Serenity Mason: Thank you for having me. Britney: and providing lactation support, Serenity's mission is to create a softer and more supported landing for new families. At the Milk Grove, she offers perinatal education classes that span from conception to postpartum, breastfeeding basics, in-home postpartum and lactation support, respite care, a NICU transition program, and even herbal tea blends and topical products But before we jump in, I'd love to just hear a bit about your story and how you got into health and wellness in the first place. Tell us a little bit about what your family looks like today. How did you decide to start your own business? Just tell us about your journey. Outside of supporting families, Serenity enjoys sunshine walks, gardening, herbalism, Serenity Mason: Sure. I grew up here in Green Bay. I grew up in a family full of nurses, community service workers, firefighters, policemen. So I think that for helping people has always kind of been biologically ingrained in me. My ⁓ ⁓ kind pushed me into nursing. had no idea what I wanted to do. And I think most... Britney: Curling Up With a Good Book and Spending Time Outside, all with her husband, two kids, dogs, and chickens. I'm excited for you to dive into this in our episode, Serenity. This conversation is going to be packed with insight and encouragement for anyone navigating pregnancy, postpartum, feeding journeys, NICU transitions, or anything else in this season of life. So we're excited to dive into today's conversation. Serenity Mason: young kids coming out of high school just choose any career to major in in college. She kind of helped guide me along that way. And shortly after graduating, I found my passion in NICU working with babies and moms. been in the NICU for ⁓ years ⁓ at the bedside ⁓ most recently kind of started transitioning into lactation. so I had my first born while I was working in the NICU struggled a lot. He was born prematurely struggled with all aspects of being a new parent, caring for a premature baby. breastfeeding ⁓ latching. That's when my passion for lactation sprouted ⁓ I started becoming really close with our NICU lactation consultant who I learned a lot from. ⁓ had a completely different experience with my second born who was born term ⁓ she took off latching, breastfeeding, we breastfed for three and a half years. I couldn't get her off, I couldn't get her off the boob. So completely different experiences. I work ⁓ at the bedside and NICU. ⁓ primarily focus on lactation. I have a passion for supporting. ⁓ moms and families because I understand how difficult it is to have a NICU baby, how difficult it is as first time parents and also MULTIPS or moms of multiple babies, transitioning ⁓ bringing this newborn into the family role. I also struggled a lot with some postpartum ⁓ illnesses or postpartum depression with my firstborn, which also brought on my passion for postpartum support and being an advocate for our moms. So I started the Milk Roll this last summer. The idea kind of came to me as I finished my certified postpartum doula course, I just started rolling ⁓ it. Britney: for Serenity Mason: ended up getting my certification in postpartum transition coaching as well. ⁓ I really want to focus on supporting the whole family with this new journey, bringing in a new family member. Britney: That's amazing. That is so much experience, like I said. And so in this episode, we are going to be focusing primarily on those NICU babies. In our second episode, just so listeners know, we are going to be talking more about her expertise in the IBCLC world, so the breastfeeding world. And then in that third episode, we're going to be spending a little bit more time in your expertise and really just looking at how the family support system can be better, how our society works now versus it did then, and like just understanding how to really tune into your gut instincts as a parent as well. And so we're going to be covering all of her arenas throughout these episodes. with this one, let's talk about your NICU experience. So first of all, when you became a nurse, how did you ⁓ into NICU? Were you initially drawn into that or is that kind of like where you got a job to start with and then you fell in love with it? Serenity Mason: No, I was never drawn to pediatrics. Before I transitioned to the NICU, I strictly did adults. It was one of those ⁓ moments. I think that came to me one day. I was sitting at work and perusing job postings. I saw the NICU and I thought, my goodness, that sounds ⁓ I don't think it's an area that many people think of when they're considering going into nursing. It's not a very common specialty. So something I had ever ⁓ considered I just, saw the posting and I thought, my goodness, this sounds amazing. Let's try it out. Britney: Yeah, wow. Well, not a nurse, but I could also imagine for some people who are going into different kind of choosing their specialties, if they wanted to do that, NICU could be a little bit intimidating too, because these lives are just so fragile, and they're just so tiny. And so I think it takes very special and amazing people to be able to spend a lot of years in that arena. Well, okay, let's dive into talking about how parents can feel more supported when they bring a NICU baby home. But before ⁓ Before that happens, let's hear from you on what are some common reasons that a baby would need to spend time in the NICU in the first place? Serenity Mason: That's a good topic. Not every NICU baby is born prematurely, which I think the majority of us of when we think about a NICU baby. ⁓ course, we do take care of premature infants all the way down to 23 weeks gestation, but we can have term infants admitted into NICU simply with traumatic ⁓ Britney: What would be some examples of things that babies would be going through that would warrant them to spend some time in the NICU? Would it be like breathing challenges or tell us more about that? Serenity Mason: It's typically breathing challenges, depending on delivery events, traumatic deliveries, such as vacuum assisted deliveries, C-sections, those can all cause damage insult to ⁓ the ⁓ baby's And just transition or journey from utero to ⁓ now the outside life itself is, is it transition and sometimes babies just need a little bit of support. ⁓ think we do typically see more respiratory issues with full term babies being admitted into the NICU. Britney: Okay, and then what about babies that, you know, they're born and then they get like RSV or something like that. What age would you help sick kiddos up to in the NICU versus like a pediatric unit? Serenity Mason: Good question. We can take anywhere up to 44 weeks gestation infants. We typically see babies 42 weeks and younger. Britney: so ⁓ obviously when a baby is the NICU there's a lot of support and there are well-qualified nurses like you who know what they're doing to help care for these little ones, but when a family is planning to go home it's a whole different ballgame. So are some of the common like fears that parents are expressing or worries that you can help walk them through? Serenity Mason: It really is a transition, I think is the best word to use. Our NICU babies go from this really highly ⁓ NICU environment where you have trained, specially trained, fantastic nurses, respiratory therapists, the neonatologist at the bedside 24 seven to going home. And it's primarily, it's just the parents as the caregiver. We get rid of all of their lines. the which ⁓ a of parents can become quite reliable on. It's kind of a sense of comfort for them. ⁓ And they're home without any of that. constant 24-7 monitoring. So it absolutely is a transition going home. Britney: is there any technology nowadays that parents like utilize at home to give them maybe like half of that comfort just to know where the baby is at or that they're doing well or that they're struggling? Like how do parents monitor at home? Serenity Mason: A lot of it is education before discharge, teaching parents and boosting up their confidence and comfort in assessing their baby's behavior cues, the ways they're trying to communicate, assessing color, respiratory status, et cetera. There ⁓ ⁓ devices on the market that ⁓ can purchase, such as those heart rate monitors, saturation monitor socks. ⁓ They're not completely reliable. They have their downfalls. But some families really like that just as a sense of peace, if anything, to have that on. ⁓ we'll have babies go home on actual monitors are really high risk babies who have frequent maybe desaturations or heart rate drops. We may send them home on a monitor, especially if they go home with oxygen. ⁓ But for the most part, a lot of it is educating our families on what stressful signs look like and when to intervene. Britney: When a parent is ready to leave the NICU and I'm sure you have this checklist of things that you go through for education, what are some of your tips on just helping this baby thrive as much as it can and grow as healthily as it can? I I think of things as simple that you would do for a regular newborn, like skin to skin or other things like that. What are just some quick tips that families can do that's gonna help their baby thrive? Serenity Mason: Mm-hmm. Good question. Skin to skin can absolutely still be practiced after discharge. And something that I always encourage families do, it's ⁓ good for regulating that baby's nervous system. Every baby and especially ⁓ NICU babies are born with ⁓ level of an immature central nervous system. ⁓ skin to skin containment and just firm pressure, being on mom, smelling her, hearing her. with that flexed position kind of reminds them of being in the utero where they were constantly soothed 24 seven now going home they are not necessarily going home but once they're born they don't have that constant pressure and containment and that's quite alarming for them. So I always encourage frequent skin to skin when at home, keeping the home environment, especially during that transition from NICU to now this new environment because babies do recognize that new environment. may not. think that they do, but they get used to whatever environment they're in, whether it be NICU environment or the postpartum floor environment. They do recognize that transition now from one environment to the next, and that can be overstimulating. So I always encourage lots of low stimulating activities and bringing them home and in a low stimulating environment. Dim lights. quiet, soothing sounds, lots of that containment to help them feel safe and protected. Britney: The immediate first thought as you're saying that is what if there's toddlers? Older siblings? Andrea Renkas: exactly what I was going to ask. Serenity Mason: the good news is there are also lots of alarming or unpredictable noises ⁓ hand in the NICU as well. So they do kind of get some familiarity with that. But yes, a lot of times these babies are going home to all their siblings and they may be really excited to see them. They may ignore them, but still be off doing their own thing, causing lots of racket and loud noises. But that's where we have typically, hopefully a familial support system. with mom and the older siblings at home to help not necessarily distract over older siblings, but kind of educate them that we need to be a little calm and quieter around this baby. Andrea Renkas: So I would say, I mean, do you do a lot of education on baby carrying and like having that baby close to mom, especially with older siblings? Serenity Mason: Yeah, don't focus on that too much in the hospital. That is something that I personally I always promote because babies are used to being ⁓ again and constantly held and soothed with mom babies are just going to react and respond to every situation. Better if if they're held and they're close to mom I always I love baby wearing skin to skin carrying baby. ⁓ Britney: Okay, I do want to circle back, as you just mentioned, family support. I feel like we should sit on that train for a little bit, because whether somebody listening to this is currently pregnant and they just want to feel prepared in case they have a NICU baby, or maybe they have a friend a sister or somebody that has had a NICU baby and they want to be able to support them better. Serenity Mason: Mm-hmm. Britney: What are some things that family and friends can do to help? know, and obviously anytime somebody brings a newborn home, bringing meals, helping out around the house, playing with toddlers, like that stuff is all going to be helpful. But do you have any tips specifically for NICU babies that is extra helpful? And or if you had a baby right now, or you had a, let's just say that you had a sister that just had a NICU baby, what would you be doing with all this knowledge you have to like help support her? Serenity Mason: Wonderful question. I love this question. It primarily comes down to supporting the mom who is going to be the best caregiver for baby ⁓ this situation. So I think a lot of times when there are new babies being brought into the world, everybody's excited. They want to come over. They want to know how they can help. ⁓ from my perspective and my experience, what I see is people always want to help. hold the baby, feed the baby, change the baby, when I think we need to be focusing more on how can we help the family as a whole, especially with these NICU babies who need a level of attention and care. So my recommendation is taking all their siblings out getting them out of the home for mom and dad because they probably feel guilty that they've spent so much time in the NICU already with this new baby and they typically feel like they've neglected their other children, take those babies out those older babies out, something with them. ⁓ love the meal train ideas. Come in and just help with all the miscellaneous household stuff, the laundry, the cleaning the the dirty dishes. Let mom really focus ⁓ settling ⁓ this. ⁓ new journey and help babies settle into this new journey, let mom and dad focus on the baby. the other familial systems can focus on the household stuff and the other family members. Britney: Yeah, I also think about like with twins or triplets, oftentimes they spend a little time in the NICU because they are born earlier oftentimes. So just thinking about managing a couple of babies at the same time. Do you have any tips for those types of parents? Serenity Mason: love to see dads involved much as dad can be involved That's going to be really helpful when dealing with multiple babies at once with twins with triplets So again having the extended ⁓ support system focusing on the rest of the household stuff let dad and mom focus on these NICU babies, these twins, these triplets, because a lot of times even just one baby is a two-person job. Especially with twins, with triplets, we really need to have another support system in place that can focus on baby with mom. Britney: Yeah, yeah. My heart just goes out to anybody listening to this that has gone through it. You know, there may even be people listening that they had a NICU baby and it was years ago, but it's just those moments stay with you, you know, and you're never going to forget how challenging that time was and how thankful you are for, you know, if the kiddo was older now for what you went through. I think another big fear that comes to mind, even for general newborns, but in NICU babies, their systems are just, they're just not quite, they're not as mature yet. sicknesses like being out in public ⁓ you older siblings going to school and bringing home sicknesses. Do you have any further guidance that you give these parents on things to do or not do to help protect those little ones? Serenity Mason: Mm-hmm. Minimizing as much exposure to that baby, that newborn, that nikkubaby as possible. It's to stay home, hunkered down with your baby. A lot of cultures expect moms to hunker with baby for 30 to 45 days where mom's sole job is to just bond with that baby, learn baby's communication skills, work on feedings just caring for that baby. They don't encourage ⁓ or invite people over to meet baby. They don't take baby ⁓ like to see my families just staying home with their babies. It's okay to say no to visitors. It's okay to say, is moment to bond with my baby. ⁓ to bring my baby into this world as comfortably as I possibly can for them, especially these NICU babies, these premature babies who already have that immature nervous system. They get stressed out really easy and being taken out into the world, being introduced to every new person is a really stressful experience for them. So minimizing as much of that stressful, those stressful experiences as possible. Again, it's okay to say no, it's okay to say no, I'm not going to this event with my baby or no, I'm not ready for you to come over and meet them yet. The less exposure they have to the outside environment outside visitors, less are going to be brought into that home. Britney: there like a certain weight or like how do you kind of know when a baby's immune system is going to be ready for basic things? Because obviously somebody can't stay hunkered down in their house forever. So is there kind of like a goal weight or I don't know some other way to measure to be like, okay, I feel a little bit more confident in my baby being able to be exposed to things. Serenity Mason: There's not a goal weight or chronological or adjusted age per se. I think a lot of it just boils down to season that we're in, ⁓ family individually, ⁓ ⁓ out in the community they are or how social they are, ⁓ your babies. ⁓ stress cues, their behavior, communication skills, and then using your best judgment as to when feel it would be appropriate to start taking your baby out or inviting people over to visit them. Britney: Yeah. All right, well to finish out this episode, I do want you to talk about your NICU graduate program, but before we hit on that, do you have any last final words of wisdom or words of advice for these, encouragement even, for these families? Serenity Mason: you can be scary. It's a scary word. It's definitely a traumatic experience it's expected or unexpected. But I like to remind my families, I want my families to know the NICU is not a life sentence, whether you're born at 22, 23 weeks gestation or a 42 week gestation baby admitted for respiratory support. It's not a life sentence, but it does absolutely change how we support and protect that baby's brain and their immune system and the family overall. My NICU graduate program is one of my favorites. Of course, having such a passion for NICU babies, having a pre and return baby myself, I completely understand and acknowledge the stress that comes from having a NICU baby. Like we said before, Our families get used to having the constant support, the constant monitoring of their baby. We have the monitors that are assessing their vitals. We have all these cords hooked up to them. We have ⁓ these fantastic. trained, experienced staff taking care of your baby and then we say, okay, we're discontinuing all the courts. Here's your baby. Good luck. It's a very bittersweet moment. Especially for our families who have been in the NICU for maybe months. They get used to that environment. They become comfortable with it. Now there's this whole new journey, this whole new transition they have to accustomed to. My NICU graduate program helps with that transition from the NICU admission to now the home life, where we're eliminating all of that concert surveillance. focus a lot on ⁓ and reading your baby's communication skills so that parents can feel confident in recognizing what their baby is trying to tell them. before they start crying. So helping understand communication skills, helping just ease that transition from discharge day to the day home and focusing on again baby's communication skills, just answering questions, resources ⁓ a lot of our NICU babies will have follow-up stays, maybe speech and occupational therapy ⁓ So understanding what is what your journey looks like now, what the next couple months to couple years are gonna look like and answering whatever questions may come up. Britney: that is so amazing that you offer that. think that there's probably so many people listening to this that are like, I wish I had that ⁓ they've had a NICU baby. I wish I had a professional in my back pocket that I could basically bring home with me and walk me through this so that I didn't have to live in these fears by myself because I'm sure, I mean, parenting is a lonely journey in and of itself, but like bringing home a baby that's little, little, that probably feels extra lonely and extra scary. So thank you for offering that. All right, we do have two more episodes coming up with Serenity. Our next one is going to about breastfeeding. So if you guys know anyone who is pregnant right now, to conceive, currently breastfeeding, the next one is going to be for them.