September marks Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Awareness Month

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) -More parents and their newborns are headed to the neonatal intensive care unit every year. Georgia’s data has climbed nearly 10%, according to the CDC.

Memorial Health’s NICU and March of Dimes collaborate to provide a support program to new parents, many of whom never expected needing it.

Family support coordinator draws on her own experience

Heather Hulon, Memorial Health NICU family support coordinator, said becoming a NICU parent is not something people can prepare for.

“Until you are experiencing it as a parent with your baby sick in the hospital, you can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like,” Hulon said.

Hulon said many NICU parents did not expect to be in this situation.

“A lot of the times NICU parents are thrown into this, this world and this life, and they are not expecting it, and it can be really hard and really scary and lots of unknowns,” Hulon said.

Hulon said her support for families is personal, since she has been in the same position herself.

“Hey, I’m a NICU mom too, I have had to, I’ve done this before, I’ve been where you are,” Hulon said. “I can just instantly see like relief on their face because it’s like, okay, she gets it.”

Hulon says her first child was born at a hospital that did not have the family support program. She says she understands just how important the support is for new parents.

“If there had been this NICU family support role at that hospital, I can see where it would just be so helpful to just feel like OK someone’s here for me someone’s on my side because a lot of the times you know the doctors in this nurse is in the staff and everybody’s just so focused on baby,” Hulon said.

Program provides education and resources

Nicole Follansbee, Memorial Health NICU director, said the program helps build camaraderie among families, who can otherwise feel isolated during their NICU stay.

“And building that camaraderie with our moms and our families, because it can be isolating if you’re just at your baby’s bedside the whole time,” Follansbee said. “So pulling them out for education, doing arts and crafts with the families, doing that memory making is so important for the health of our families too.”

Follansbee said the program also helps families transition from the NICU to home, since the level of support looks different once they leave the hospital.

“Help get those parents the education they need from the start so how to be a NICU mom too. Then when it’s time to go home, how do you keep your baby now safe and I’m free of illness when you get them home too,” Follansbee said.

Follansbee said March of Dimes releases a report card each year, and Georgia received an F again this year for maternal care.

“And so we need to make sure on the NICU side that we’re here and ready to take care of people’s babies to give them the best step foot forward,” Follansbee said.

NICU expansion

Memorial Health’s NICU is a Level 4 NICU, covering 24 counties, and has a transport team to help care for babies born in rural areas, where OBGYN care is scarce.

Memorial Health expanded their NICU from 92 to 99 beds. Follansbee said the expansion was needed because the unit has increasingly been at capacity, in order to keep up with the growing population of Southeast Georgia.

Follansbee said the NICU’s focus goes beyond caring for the baby and also includes caring for the family.

March of Dimes partnership

March of Dimes partnership with Memorial Health offers support to families in the NICU. The partnership aims to improve the NICU experience and provide resources to families. March of Dimes has 70 similar partnerships across the country, and Memorial Health is one of the 70 with that capability.

The partnership has been at Memorial Health for 24 years, the longest in the state. In 2026, the NICU family support program will mark its 25th anniversary.

March of Dimes is a nonprofit whose mission is to improve health outcomes for all moms and babies. The NICU program is one way the organization works toward that mission.