When Your Baby Is in the NICU: Who Holds the Parents? | ICU Baby

When a baby is admitted to the NICU, the entire family enters a world it never expected to know. The baby receives critical medical care—but who is caring for the parents? In this episode of Bountiful Momcast, Ivonne Vela speaks with Leah Jayanetti, Founding Board Member and Director of Programs & Education at ICU Baby, and Sofia Vertiz, a mother of five and ICU Baby volunteer. Sofia remembers the shock of watching her full-term daughter, Valeria, be rushed to intensive care after aspirating meconium. Ivonne shares her own experiences with two NICU journeys: four days with her first daughter, Isabella, and 56 days with Samantha, who was born at 27 weeks following a placental abruption. Drawing from her professional experience and her work with hundreds of NICU families, Leah explains how family-centered care, parent advocacy and compassionate support can help mothers and fathers feel more confident, connected and less alone throughout the NICU journey. In this conversation: • Why full-term babies may also need NICU care • What parents need immediately after a traumatic birth • Why well-intentioned words do not always help • How mothers and fathers may process the NICU differently • How parents can advocate for their babies • Why learning the “language” of the NICU matters • The importance of family-centered care • Faith, prayer and spiritual support at the bedside • Supporting families through infant loss and bereavement • Why caring for yourself is part of caring for your baby This episode also honors NICU nurses, mentors, volunteers and every person who helps families feel less alone. Learn more about ICU Baby: ICU Baby: https://www.icubaby.org/ Instagram: @icubaby_org Follow Bountiful Momcast: Instagram: @bountifulmomcast Bountiful Mom: @bountifulmom Listen and watch: https://linktr.ee/BountifulMomcast If this conversation helped you, please subscribe, leave a comment and share it with a NICU family who needs to know they are not alone. #NICU #NICUParents #BountifulMomcast