Jessica MacLeod doesn’t want to miss any milestones.

Her daughter, Hallie Grace, has been in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit since birth, forcing the new mother to commute daily from Souris to see her newborn.

For that reason, MacLeod is grateful the NICU has started using the VCreate app to make sure those milestones never go unseen.

“You never want to miss any milestones or any big moments or anything funny or cute,” she said. 

“It has had such a big impact not only on us at home, but as well as, like, our extended family and friends as well. They also look forward to those updates as much as we do.”

VCreate allows hospital staff to upload text, images and videos which can then be seen in the app on a parent’s phone, something MacLeod said makes “a huge difference.” The app sends emails indicating updates, providing an opportunity for the user to log in and view the latest posting, which is also downloadable. Updates have included weight gain as well as fun photos on special occasions. That allows MacLeod to stay connected even when she isn’t able to to be at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

“We’ve often gotten them through the night, which is so nice. You wake up through the night and the gals on night shift have sent something through and it’s just a little bit of peace of mind to know she’s doing well,” MacLeod said. 

QEH Foundation ready with funding

Queen Elizabeth Hospital Foundation CEO Tracey Comeau said the foundation provides equipment and technology, such as the VCreate app, through funding and donors. The QEH Auxilary WoHeLo sale overshot its goal raking in about $11,000, she said.

“And so the very day that the system was approved… we were able to fund it. They were able to order it immediately. So we were so excited about that,” she said, adding the technology cost nearly $12,000.

“If you live a couple hours away and you can’t be at the bedside all the time. We want those parents to get rested too.”

Neonatologist Beth Ellen Brown said family involvement in babies care at the NICU has “significant impact” in the short-term for the babies, as well as for their families. She said the capacity does not exist for parents to stay in a room with their babies, so the app provides the ability to communicate with parents in a safe, secure way to ensure parents know what is happening in the NICU. The app has been in use for about a year.

“Whether that’s tucking them in at night to say goodnight, whether that’s three in the morning and they wake up just wondering how their baby is doing. This is a way that we can give them photos and share really cute moments with them,” Brown said.

“We can only imagine that having a baby in the neonatal intensive care unit is probably one of the most traumatizing, vulnerable, terrifying moments of anyone’s life.”

‘Parents seem to love it’

Morgan Cornwall wants to make sure all parents can connect with thier chidren who are being cared for.

The registered nurse said the staff gets “pretty fun” with the photos they take and add funny captions as well as giving weight updates.

“Parents seem to love it. They seem very, like, reassured by being able to get these dates when they can’t be here,” she said.

Cornwall said the staff also enjoy the app and it helps amplify smaller milestones.

“There’s always a bigger celebration if they surpass something big. But these little weight gains at night might only have been a previous, like, white board update or something that’s quickly brushed over in rounds,” she said, adding it gives staff something to celebrate along with the babies they care for.

“I love it. It makes me want to do more and, like, use the program a lot more and do fun things with the babies at night and little decorations or crafts around them, and post those photos for the parents.”