DAVIE, Fla. – On this week’s Mom to Mom, Local 10’s Nicole Perez spent time with a South Florida doctor who is helping NICU parents and babies beyond delivery.
Daphna Yasova Barbeau is a Neonatal Intensive Care Physician at HCA Florida Hospital in Davie. She says it is her job to take care of babies that need a little bit of help after delivery
“Neonatologists around the country, around the world, are around the clock caring for our babies. So, our team does all kinds of shifts. Day shifts, night shifts, weekend shifts, extra-long shifts, but we are always open for any baby who needs us,” said Yasova Barbeau.
Working all the different shifts and taking care of precious babies while raising her own daughter did not stop her from feeling like there was something more she could do.
“We know that all parents, new parents are at risk for stress, anxiety and depression. It’s magnified for parents with babies in the NICU or babies who very sick. We knew that we needed to do something different,” said Yasova Barbeau.
That something different is called Tiny Tots.
“We host a meal for families every Wednesday, but that’s accompanied by some sort of educational snippet. The goals of the program are really much bigger than that,” said Yasova Barbeau.
With all kinds of experts at the hospital and faculty across Nova Southeastern University and community partners, the team gets together once a week to host families whose babies are or have been in the NICU.
“Our little lunch or sometimes dinner, offers parents an opportunity to meet other parents and hopefully grow their community inside the NICU and thereafter as well,” said Yasova Barbeau.
Along with a colleague, Raquel Garcia, they committed to getting the program off the ground.
The lunch consists of a buffet style meal, arts and crafts, an educational portion and a chance for the caregivers to spend time together.
For the class Nicole attended, the focus was on the power of reading in the NICU and the moms that are part of the class are welcome to take a book home with them.
Nicole spoke mom to mom with Makeda Francis, who delivered her son Midas at 25 weeks.
“I was not expecting to have a difficult pregnancy. I had a 19 week “PPROM,” so I had a pre-mature, pre-term rupture of the membrane’ so my water broke really early at 19 weeks," said Francis.
Francis said doctors told her they did not know what the chances of survival were for her son.
“Moving forward, it became a difficult pregnancy. When I made it to 23 weeks because miraculously, he stayed in there with no amniotic fluid. I checked into the hospital, and I stayed there,” said Francis.
at 25 weeks, she gave birth to her son.
“Straight into the NICU. So, he was born on March 15th. He was not discharged until July 31st. So, he spent about 4 months here. It was scary. He actually coded in front of me. I was terrified, I was like this can’t be real,” said Francis.
Francis said she’s a mom who likes to be in control, but during that time, she relied on the NICU team of doctors and as a first-time mom, learned how to grieve.
“I have great family, like really, really great family support. And unknowing support was the Tiny Tots class,” said Francis.
She found a group of moms at the Tiny Tots class that she was able to rely on, who were all going through similar situations.
“A lot of the women I had met there in the class, I’ve been able to lean on them for support for a lot of things too. There’s something about mom brain. no one will get it like a NICU mom,” said Francis.
It is not lost on Francis that the team of doctors at HCA University work around the clock, live their own lives and decided that was not enough. With no financial support to start, they created a program to better the lives of the families already going through so much.
“I’ve always wanted to be a mom, so it’s just, I don’t know how many thank you’s I can give to somebody for giving me my son. For making sure he’s well. It’s really good. So, thank you, a million times,” said Francis.
Dr. Yasova Barbeau also hosts a podcast called “The Incubator” where neo-natal healthcare professionals join her about the latest NICU research.
If you would like to help, visit this webpage, call 954-635-7813 or email uhdccommunications@hcahealthcare.com.
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