ICU baby Parent-to-Parent mentors are excited and grateful to be back in the NICU at Holtz Children’s Hospital. Due to the coronavirus, the hospital had closed its doors to volunteers in the NICU from March 2020 to May 2022 in order to protect babies and their parents. During that time support was given to NICU families through tele support phone calls and video chats.

While this enables ICU baby mentors to connect with families at their convenience, bedside support allows families to receive in person emotional support from their mentors. Mentors provide a hand to hold or an ear to listen during the families difficult times in the NICU. The combination of tele-support and bedside support is a comprehensive approach that is crucial to help families navigate their NICU journeys.

Each family will experience the NICU in their own way. The layers of access to information, emotional and financial support, and connections with veteran mentors assures that ICU baby is truly centering each family in their own experience and helping them in the way that they need best.