By meadowlakeNOW

Flying Dust family one of first to access new health technology in Sask.

Aug 3, 2017 | 4:04 PM

The Flying Dust First Nation woman and her family aren’t able to be at the hospital around the clock to visit her baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in Saskatoon, but with the recent addition of a video webcam system called NICView, they can see the baby anytime through a private and secure live video feed.

Last week, ten incubators were equipped with the cameras thanks to a $56,000 donation which Saskatoon-based profit Bloom made to the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Foundation.

This technology is the first of its kind in Canada and Saskatchewan, and Samantha Gladue said she is beyond thankful to be able to be one of the first in the province to have access to it.

“When I’m not there, I can see him and watch him,” she said. “My [other] kids are small and are staying with family while I’m [in Saskatoon], and my husband works. There’s a username to get onto the camera that’s pointing towards him. So whenever they want to, they can go on and see him.”

She said it’s a meaningful way for the family to connect with the baby boy while they are not at the hospital in person.

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“I’m there all day and then I come home, and that’s when I feel kind of lonely for him,” Gladue said. “But I have the camera to watch him when I start to miss him. I also gave the password to my mom and in-laws, so there’s only a few people that can access it, and when my kids want to go to see him they can ask.”

The boy is in the NICU because his birth was several weeks premature.

“He’s doing way better now,” she said. “He is out of his little house where they were taking his temperature and he eats whenever he wants.”

She said staff in the NICU have made her stay away from Flying Dust much more pleasant.

“I’m actually very pleased with everybody there,” Gladue said. “It’s helped a lot, everyone’s so friendly and there’s someone to talk to every day.”

In a media release from the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Foundation, Dr. Laurence Givelichian, head of pediatrics at the University of Saskatchewan said the addition of the NICView cameras will give families peace of mind.

“We are thrilled that this baby-friendly technology has been brought into Saskatchewan and to our children’s services so that our families can feel at ease while their baby receives medical attention,” he said. “Thanks to this family-centred experience, parents with a newborn baby in the NICU will no longer be imagining the worst and will feel as if they are with their baby every minute.”

Earlier today, Gladue decided to check the NICView to take a peek at her infant son. She received a pleasant surprise upon accessing the weblink. The nurse who was attending wrote a message to her:

“Mom, I get to go home today.”

kathy.gallant@jpbg.ca  

On Twitter @ReporterKath