NICU Parent Network

06/03/2026

Tiny Transitions Membership Plans provide ongoing developmental support, caregiver coaching, and specialized pediatric OT services designed to help children thrive while making expert care more affordable for families. Visit http://www.tinytransitionstherapy.com/ for more info!

06/02/2026

Join the Family-Centered Care Taskforce TODAY, June 2 at 11:00 AM PT for a special post-launch webinar highlighting the new Presence Study Toolkit!

This resource was created to help NICU teams and healthcare organizations strengthen family-centered care by recognizing parents as essential partners at the bedside.

During the webinar, attendees will:
• Explore the toolkit content
• Hear from the authors and parent perspective
• Discuss real-world implementation strategies for units and organizations

Happening today! Join us at 11am PT/2pm EST for a free webinar featuring our Presence Study Toolkit. Become a member to register: https://stanforduniversity.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7QmVtGvnETQEJ3o?jfefe=new

05/28/2026

Today on the NICUnity Podcast we’re talking about something many NICU and loss parents quietly carry long after the crisis ends: what happens to us after trauma, and what happens because of it.

For so many parents, there comes a moment when we feel pulled toward helping others. Advocacy, service, and peer support can become a way to create meaning from pain, restore a sense of control, and help others feel less alone. But that calling can also be complicated. Sometimes the very work that helps us heal can begin to deplete us if we move faster than our healing can hold.

In this deeply important conversation, we’re joined by Beatriz Vides and Dr. Jennifer Middleton to explore trauma, healing, advocacy, and the emotional realities of supporting others after surviving difficult experiences ourselves.

🎧 Listen now on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
➡ https://nicuparentnetwork.org/nicunity-podcast/

05/27/2026

Researchers are working to better understand how hospitals handle transfers from the NICU to the PICU, and they want to hear directly from parents and primary caregivers who have lived through it.

Currently, there are no established best practices for non-emergent NICU-to-PICU transfers. By sharing your perspective, you can help inform future care practices and improve support for families navigating this transition.

If you are a primary caregiver of an infant who was transferred from the NICU to the PICU, please consider completing this confidential survey. It only takes about 15 minutes.

🔗 https://bit.ly/NICU2PICU_caregivers

05/25/2026

From all of us at NICU Parent Network, we thank the men and women who gave their lives in service to our country and the families who carry their legacy forward.

05/22/2026

The Family-Centered Care Taskforce’s Presence Study Toolkit is here!

This new resource was created to help NICUs and healthcare teams strengthen family-centered care by recognizing parents as essential partners in their baby’s care journey.

We’re especially proud to share that NPN members Nicole Nyberg, Yamile Jackson, and Christine Tester, along with NPN Executive Director Keira Sorrells, contributed as authors to this important work.

🔗 https://fcctaskforce.org/parental-presence-toolkit/

05/21/2026

🎙️ Episode 7: Surviving to Supporting: How Peer Support Changes Everything

Featuring Katrina Moline & Rochelle DeOliveira

In this episode, we explore the many ways peer support shows up and how connection can transform the NICU journey for parents navigating uncertainty, grief, and life afterIn this episode, we explore the many ways peer support shows up and how connection can transform the NICU journey for parents navigating uncertainty, grief, and life after discharge.

From one-on-one mentorship and coaching to in-person gatherings and online communities, families are creating spaces of understanding that meet parents exactly where they are.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify & Apple Podcasts
➡ https://nicuparentnetwork.org/nicunity-podcast/
⭐ Follow, subscribe, and leave a review to help others discover the show.

05/19/2026

We’re proud to see Sahra Cahoon, Executive Director of Love For Lily and a valued NPN member, helping bring national attention to the realities NICU families face every day.

In this article, Sahra shares why dedicated NICU leave matters and why families deserve the time and support needed to be present with their babies during some of the hardest moments of their lives.

Stories like these are reminding the world that family presence in the NICU is not a luxury, it’s essential!

Parents with newborns in intensive care units have long faced a difficult but overlooked plight: Any parental leave they might have does not take into account the days or even months their newborns spend in intensive care.

05/17/2026

May is NEC Awareness Month and today, May 17th, is NEC Awareness Day. NPN member, the NEC Society, is working tirelessly to accelerate research, raise awareness, and build a world without necrotizing enterocolitis.

Check them out at http://necsociety.org/

05/15/2026

Today is Kangaroo Care Day, a global reminder of the power of closeness, connection and skin-to-skin care.And in just one week, the Family-Centered Taskforce...