In the Best Hands

When Luciana welcomed her daughter Emilia into the world, it wasn't the birth experience she had imagined.

Born at just 30 weeks and six days, Emilia immediately faced breathing difficulties. Within hours of her birth, she was transferred to SickKids before being moved to the NICU at Lakeridge Health's Oshawa Hospital, where she would spend the next seven weeks growing stronger.

For Luciana and her family, the experience was overwhelming.

"Leaving your baby in the NICU is one of the hardest things a parent can experience," she says. "You think you're going to take your baby home, but instead you have to leave them behind."

But during such uncertainty, there was comfort in knowing Emilia was receiving exceptional care, close to home.

Having a local NICU meant Luciana could spend her days beside her daughter instead of travelling back and forth to Toronto. Those precious hours mattered.

"When you have a baby in the hospital, you want to spend as much time with them as possible," she says. "Being close to home is really important because you're not spending time driving to a bigger hospital in the city. You can spend that time bonding with your baby instead."

During her seven-week stay in the NICU, Emilia received breathing support and feeding assistance as she continued to grow stronger. Luciana worked closely with nurses, neonatologists and lactation consultant Abby, who helped Emilia learn to feed and supported the family throughout their journey.

"For premature babies, feeding is a huge challenge," Luciana explains. "Abby spent so much time helping us figure out what Emilia needed and reassuring me that she was making progress, even when it felt like we would never get to go home."

What stood out most was not only the expertise of the care team, but also their compassion.

Because Emilia struggled with reflux, nurses often went beyond their clinical duties, holding and comforting her after feedings to help her stay comfortable.

"It was such a small thing, but it meant so much," says Luciana. "As a parent, it's hard to think about your baby being alone in a hospital bed. Seeing the nurses holding her and caring for her like that gave me so much comfort."

Throughout Emilia's stay, specialized equipment allowed much of her monitoring and care to happen right at her bedside, reducing unnecessary transfers and helping keep her safe and comfortable. From bedside ultrasounds to advanced incubators that could track her weight without disturbing her rest, every detail was focused on helping Amelia grow stronger.

Today, Emilia is home with her family, including her older brother and sister, and thriving.

"I'm really thankful that even though she was born early, she was able to overcome needing breathing support, IVs and feeding tubes,” said Luciana. “She was able to grow and develop in the care of the nurses and doctors in the NICU and come home to us, to her older sister and older brother, and be part of our family."

That gratitude has inspired Luciana to give back.

After learning that many essential pieces of equipment and patient comfort items are funded through community support rather than government funding, she launched her own fundraiser in support of the NICU. Her goal is to help provide improved recliner chairs that allow parents to spend more time holding and bonding with their babies through kangaroo care, a practice shown to support infant growth and development.

For Luciana, it's a way to help future families through challenges similar to her own.

"It's amazing to have this level of care in our community," she says. "The equipment, the expertise and the people make such a difference. Supporting Lakeridge Health means supporting families when they need it most."

Through initiatives like Novus Automotive Drive for Care Lottery in support of Lakeridge Health Foundation, Durham Region's community lottery presented by Novus Automotive, community members can help ensure local children and families continue to have access to leading-edge paediatric care close to home.

For families like Luciana's, that support can make all the difference.