Riverside Community Hospital installs new baby cameras for NICU parents to view their newborn at home
Riverside, CA – Riverside Community Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) has installed individual cameras that allow parents and families to see their preemie or hospitalized infants from home. Although parents can visit their newborns at any time in the NICU, the cameras allow additional time and peace of mind when parents cannot be bedside.
The small camera system is placed next to the baby’s isolette* or crib and is focused on the infant’s face. Parents follow a few easy steps to download an app and they can connect to their baby’s camera from home on their preferred device. The video travels securely with up to 256-bit SSL encryption, the current web standard, similar to online banking. The cameras do not transmit sound and do not record video. No other users will have access to the baby’s images unless the parent(s) provide log-in credentials.
Natalie Campos is one the first parents to use the infant cameras. She delivered baby Brayden on November 2. “The baby camera is really nice to use,” said Natalie. “It’s an easy way to check in on Brayden when I was in my room or when I am discharged.” Natalie told us she’d given the log-in credentials to Brayden’s grandpa and he had spent a majority of the morning viewing the newborn on his phone.
“This is so exciting,” said Annette Greenwood, Chief Nursing Officer at Riverside Community Hospital. “We know how hard it is for parents to head home and leave their little one in the NICU. Our nurses are skilled, compassionate and kind, but this new camera system delivers even more assurance to new moms and dads.” Annette continued, “The NICU length of stay can vary from a couple hours to several days or weeks. This new technology can keep baby and loved ones close together when they cannot here in person.”
Riverside Community Hospital currently houses a 20-bed Level III NICU and is actively constructing a new 35-bed NICU in the G Tower. “Our new NICU will not only provide more beds to infants in need to intensive care,” said Jackie Van Blaricum, Chief Executive Officer at Riverside Community Hospital, “it will also house sleep rooms for neonatologists who are on call and provide semi-private pod spaces for mom and support person to bond with baby.” Riverside Community Hospital’s new NICU is projected to be completed by December 2023.
*An isolette is an enclosed crib that maintains warmth and keeps newborns isolated from germs.