You spend many months growing your baby. Before you know it, it’s finally Birth Day. What a journey it’s been up to this point – the confirmation pregnancy test (ok, tests), the first time you knew confidently that those weren’t gas bubbles, but little baby feet kicking, the ultrasound that revealed you were team pink or team blue, sneezing and peeing yourself for the first time, the overwhelming love you felt at your baby shower, packing your hospital bag, getting in the car as a pregnant woman for the last time…

And then you birth a baby – your baby. Regardless of what it takes to get to this point, you do it.

You bring life into the world and in that moment, the world changes forever.

And for many families, it changes very quickly in more ways than they expected.

Your baby needs help.

Four words that can shake a new parent to the core.

For some babies, that assessment is made days or weeks before birth. For others, it’s just minutes, hours or days after.

In our four-part series, Life as a NICU Parent, we’ll be talking about what it’s like to become, anticipated or not, a NICU parent. We talked with dozens of amazingly strong parents who shared their experiences – the good and the bad – from the time they found out their babies were going to the NICU through when it was finally time to go home.


If you or someone you know is in need of doula support during or after a NICU stay, please get in touch on our Contact page. We understand the unique needs and would be honored to provide support during this emotional time.