Empowering NICU Parents Podcast - podcast cover

Empowering NICU Parents Podcast

Is your baby currently in the NICU? Was your baby born prematurely? Or is your term baby in the NICU for high jaundice levels, low blood sugars, or because they have some Respiratory Distress and need oxygen or additional support?

Are you wondering what in the heck is a small baby unit or kangaroo care? Why do NICUs use donor breast milk and what on earth does RDS, BPD, IVH, NEC, ETT, CPAP, HFNC, UVC, UAC, po, ng, NEC, ABG, CBG, CBC, and CMP stand for? Are you asking yourself how will we ever get through this, what questions should I even ask, and when will my baby come home?

If you are a NICU parent who is scared, nervous, unsure, and full of questions, then hit the subscribe button so you do not miss another show!

Welcome to the "Empowering NICU Parents Podcast" where we will answer ALL of these questions and SO MUCH more! Your host, Nicole Nyberg is a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner with years of NICU experience - but she also brings her unique perspective to this podcast as a mother of a 23-weeker.

Along with sharing answers to the NICU medical questions you have, Nicole addresses and supports you through the incredibly difficult emotional struggles that only a NICU parent can understand.

She provides you with knowledge plus tangible tips to guide, educate, empower, and support you through your baby's NICU journey and once they are home. Tune in to hear from someone who knows exactly what you're going through, another NICU Mama.

Check out all of our show notes and additional information at empoweringnicuparents.com
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Episodes

Non-Invasive Ventilation in the NICU - A Review of NIPPV, CPAP, HFNC, and LFNC too

In this episode, we review non-invasive ventilation in the NICU, respiratory support without an endotracheal tube, but rather with a nasal cannula or face mask. If your baby currently has or had Respiratory Distress Syndrome, the chances are quite high that they are currently or were previously on at least one of the different modes of non-invasive ventilation, either nIMV or NIPPV, CPAP, HFNC, LFNC. This is a topic, I know so many of you will benefit from hearing. After listening, you will walk...

Apr 29, 202131 min

Ventilator Review in the NICU - What Does Positive Pressure, Volume-Targeted, and High Frequency Do?

Do you have a baby in the NICU who is intubated and on a ventilator? Are you desperately trying to understand what the care team is talking about when they mention positive pressure with SIMV, PIP, and PEEP, or volume-targeted with tidal volume, or high frequency ventilation? In this podcast episode, we break down the different modes of invasive ventilation commonly used in the NICU. First, we review respiratory distress syndrome in newborns as well as some key concepts including surfactant defi...

Apr 15, 202128 min

Living Your Best Life with HIE

To honor HIE Awareness Month this April, I sat down with the Executive Director for Hope for HIE, Betsy Pilon. Betsy shares her personal experience after her son, Max was diagnosed with HIE or Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy, a type of neonatal brain injury. Listen to hear how repetitive gaps in resources and lack of support for HIE families drove her to make a change. She now spearheads the non-profit organization to help other HIE families navigate their journey. By promoting awareness, educat...

Apr 01, 202147 min

Take a Deep Breath - Diving Into Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Newborns

In this episode, we take a deep dive into Respiratory Distress Syndrome or RDS in newborns. RDS is the dominant clinical problem preterm infants face. But, RDS it is not exclusive to just premature infants. Tune in to learn more about RDS, what causes it, what infants can be affected by it, the common symptoms infants present with, how it is diagnosed, as well as the common methods of prevention and treatment including antenatal steroids, respiratory support, specifically CPAP, and artificial su...

Mar 18, 202128 min

Healing From a Broken Heart - Part II

In our continued discussion, Heidi House and I discuss her amazing work with Save the Mommies. As the Illinois Representative, she brings awareness and educates women on the common symptoms of Peripartum Cardiomyopathy and also speaks at national meetings and conferences to promote change and save lives. Heidi shares how they honor Emery each year on the twins birthday and take comfort in the little signs knowing that she is with them everyday as they continue to work through their grief. You wi...

Mar 04, 202128 min

Healing From a Broken Heart

To honor Heart Disease month, I sat down with my dear friend, Heidi House for an interview. She speaks openly and candidly about an experience that should have been full of joy, but rather left her physically and emotionally with a broken heart. With preeclampsia followed by a diagnosis of Peripartum Cardiomyopathy, in a matter of hours, her whole world changed. Listen to hear her devastating story unfold as she describes their infertility struggles, the blessing of a twin pregnancy, then her ne...

Feb 25, 202135 min

NICU Equipment from Head to Toe - What You Need to Know

If you are a NICU parent and feel completely overwhelmed and scared by all of the wires, tubes, and equipment around them, this episode is for you! There really is no preparation for parents - especially when it comes to YOUR child - But after this episode, you will have a better understanding of all of the many different wires and tubes that are on your baby, what their purpose is, what pieces of equipment they are hooked up to, and how it relates to your baby’s plan of care. After listening, y...

Feb 19, 202127 min

Against All Odds: How Advocacy, Hope, and a Positive Mindset Saved Mikaela's Life

Meet, Yesenia Wittman, a new mother, who with her strong advocacy, hope, faith, and positivity, ultimately saved her daughter’s life! You will not help to be enlightened and filled with hope as you hear their story. Amidst the COVID pandemic, she had severe Preterm Premature rupture of membranes at just 13 weeks. Her medical team advised her to terminate the pregnancy and left her with no hope. Instead, she fought for her daughter and after research, with advice from support groups, determinatio...

Feb 11, 202139 min

Breaking Down the #1 Question of Every NICU Parents

There are so many questions and concerns that come up for NICU parents, but in my experience, once your infant is stabilized, THE most common question on a parent's mind is, when will my baby be able to come home? In this episode, we break it down and answer that question with some common diagnoses of infants in the NICU including extremely preterm infants, very preterm infants, moderately preterm infants, late preterm infants, as well as common conditions for term infants admitted to the NICU i...

Feb 06, 202125 min

NICU Cast Members: Leading and Supporting Roles

If you’ve suddenly found yourself in the NICU after your baby was born, multiple staff members have probably introduced themselves to you - but who are they? More importantly, what is their role and how will they help my baby or our family? In this episode, we will break down many of the NICU cast members that are on your baby’s care team including the Neonatologist, Neonatal Nurse Practitioners, Nurses, Dietician, Respiratory Therapist, Occupational Therapist, Physical Therapist, Social Worker,...

Feb 02, 202128 min

Get to Know Your Host

You've discovered a new podcast for NICU parents that you think may be exactly what you've been searching for, but who is this host? How does she know what I'm going through? What are her credentials? In this episode, Nicole quickly addresses the elephant in the room, who is she? She explains why she became a nurse, her perseverance to work in the NICU, and why she ultimately went onto graduate school to become an NNP. But most importantly, she describes what lead her to start the podcast. She h...

Feb 01, 202115 min
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