Support

NICU Parent Circles

Feeling alone in the NICU experience is one of the greatest hurdles every NICU parent faces. Even though 1 in 10 babies are born premature, not everyone knows another person that has gone through the NICU experience. Connection, real genuine connection, is one of the best ways that we can promote health for NICU parents. Our goal is to ensure every NICU parent has a friend that’s been there. A friend that understands how it feels to walk away from the hospital without your baby. How it feels to stare into an incubator unable to hold your baby. How it feels to fear for the life of your child. We’ve created NICU Parent Circles as a way to connect and share our experiences in an open, honest manner. Bring your tears, your pain, your rage, your shame, your joy and your laughter. We meet virtually for now, pandemic style. Each meeting will be broken into circles of 3-4 people to give everyone an opportunity to share and connect. Please make a friend and know that you are not alone.

To find out more about our next Circle, please fill out our Contact Form. https://nicuparenthealth.org/contact/

Murals

“Art is our one true global language. It knows no nation, it favors no race, and it acknowledges no class. It speaks to our need to reveal, heal, and transform. It transcends our ordinary lives and lets us imagine what is possible.”

Richard Kamler

At NICU Parent Health, we believe art is a universal healing language so we create murals in NICUs (and other locations) to inspire and heal the families that spend their time there. We hope that parents and family members will take a moment to pause and take a deep breath while absorbing some of the beauty and encouragement inherent in each piece. These murals speak to the human experience and the range of emotions that is involved with having a child in the NICU. Our murals are symbols of hope, strength, resilience, and inspiration. Ultimately, the murals serve as a photographic point of graduation, from the NICU to the next step of the journey, going home.

Research has shown that visual art activates the brain’s reward systems, releasing feel good chemicals like dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin which triggers sensations of pleasure and positive emotions. By creating a beautiful piece of art, we are able to improve the health of NICU families. To find out more on this research, check out this article, “Your Brain On Art: The Case for Neuroaesthetics,” from the International Arts & Mind Lab: The Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics.

New Mural Location

We are always on the lookout for new mural locations.  If you know of a NICU that would benefit from a mural, please fill out this form.

Artists

We are compiling a list of artists to paint murals in hospitals across the country.  If you are an artist interested in participating in a mural project, please fill out this form. 

Volunteers

Are you interested in participating in a mural project? We are looking for volunteers to help us coordinate projects.  No experience necessary.  We’ll teach you everything you need to know.  You’ll need to bring your enthusiasm and desire to help NICU families.  Please fill out this form for further information.

NICU Libraries

Coming soon…