Carroll Hospital in Westminster, Md., established a neonatal couplet care program, which will allow mothers of premature or sick infants to stay with them while they receive care.
The hospital opened two neonatal couplet care rooms March 20 as part of its $13.5 million expansion and renovation of the Family Birthplace. It is the first hospital in the state to offer a neonatal couplet care program, according to a Carroll County Times report.
Previously, a sick infant was separated from the mother and brought to a neonatal nursery, which is an open unit. Neonatal couplet care programs keep sick infants and mothers together in the same room for as long as the baby is hospitalized.
"The whole concept of couplet care is that the parents become the caregivers and the nurses become coaches in that care," says Linda Grogan, executive director of women's, children's and surgical services at the hospital, in a statement. "It reduces the length of stay for the baby, encourages maternal-infant bonding and helps parents feel more comfortable in caring for the baby, and more prepared for their discharge home."
Additionally, it will allow caregivers to give personalized treatment to the infant and family, said Cynthia Roldan, MD, chief of pediatrics at Carroll Hospital, in a statement.