Brave Beginnings provides lifesaving incubator to support premature babies at Novant Health Hemby Children’s Hospital neonatal intensive care unit

Home / Brave Beginnings provides lifesaving incubator to support premature babies at Novant Health Hemby Children’s Hospital neonatal intensive care unit

Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center Foundation was awarded a $43,563.13 grant from Brave Beginnings, a program of the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation, to fund a Dräger Babyleo Isolette® for the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Novant Health Hemby Children’s Hospital (Hemby). The isolette provides the newest technology available to increase infant survival rates and ensure prompt delivery of care to NICU infants.

The Hemby NICU provides more than 700 infants each year with 24-hour in-house care for prematurity, congenital defects, respiratory disorders, sepsis, congenital heart defects, metabolic disorders, neurological disorders and other issues. Infants born at 23-33 weeks gestation require an isolette to maintain body temperature until the infant’s system is mature enough to regulate temperature on its own. 

The new isolette will provide advanced thermoregulation and therapy modes for weaning, warm up and cooling. An integrated audio function allows parents to play music or recordings of mom’s voice or heartbeat for positive stimuli. The unit also features a kangaroo mode that automatically adjusts monitors and alarms to accommodate skin-to-skin care, which supports mother and baby bonding and improves infant outcomes.

“This advanced therapy is making a significant difference in the quality of life-saving care infants are receiving in the Hemby NICU,” said Ann Caulkins, president of Novant Health Foundation. “Novant Health is proud to partner with Brave Beginnings in service to newborns. We are deeply grateful for support that will reassure, comfort and connect families during a child’s time in the NICU.”

For more information about Novant Health Hemby Children’s Hospital, visit https://www.novanthealth.org/hemby-childrens-hospital.aspx.