A meaningful Mother’s Day for Mount Sinai

April 2, 2015 Mount Sinai Hospital Foundation

Spending Mother’s Day in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) may not be what most new mothers envision, but it can be equally special when moms know it is the best possible place for their fragile babies.

Photo of Marie and Melinda Criscione

Marie Criscione gave birth quite early to baby Melinda, at just over 29 weeks of pregnancy (typically babies are born after 40 weeks of pregnancy). With the highly specialized care Melinda required, Marie knew there was nowhere else she wanted to be this Mother’s Day. “There is no better place for her than Mount Sinai,” says Marie. “I am so grateful she is here.”

Each year, more than 1,000 of Ontario’s most fragile babies are cared for in Mount Sinai’s Newton Glassman Charitable Foundation NICU. Marie is part of the NICU’s Family Integrated Care Program – the first program of its kind in Canada – which involves parents in the day-to-day care responsibilities for pre-term babies in the NICU. Evidence has demonstrated that this model of care results in babies growing 25 percent faster with increased breastfeeding rates and lower infections rates. “I’m looking forward to learning how to take care of her. I recognize that the program will be very beneficial to me and to Melinda. I am single, so when I get home it will just be me. It is very comforting knowing that I get to practice how to take care of my baby with expert supervision first.”

Marie, along with mom Danielle Metler whose twins were born three months early, shared their experiences with the CBC’s Mary Weins about Mother’s Day. See it here.

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