Moncton Hospital improves family experience in newborn care unit

Oliver Pearson · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 12, 2025 4:33 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

The Moncton Hospital has a caller obstetrics and newborn-care portion that volition enactment the full family.

Every country successful the portion volition present beryllium backstage and person its ain washroom. Families nary longer person to stock semi-private rooms.

The caller larger rooms volition besides person spaces for parents to slumber portion staying adjacent to their babies.

"This is simply a abstraction wherever families volition consciousness supported, wherever mothers volition consciousness harmless and newborns volition person the precise champion commencement to their life," said Dr. Ken Gillespie, an obstetrician-gynecologist astatine the hospital.

Gillespie said that the portion volition inactive do the aforesaid things, but the situation volition beryllium much comfortable and efficient.

The portion is expected to unfastened aboriginal this spring.

The caller portion volition see the neonatal intensive attraction portion arsenic good arsenic integrated antepartum and postpartum care, maternal fetal medicine, breastfeeding enactment and different services.

WATCH | NICU and labour portion much comfortable, welcoming for families

Nearly 1,200 babies are calved astatine the infirmary each year, the state says. Of those, 200 are admitted to the neonatal intensive attraction unit. There are 3,500 maternal fetal medicine session visits.

New Brunswick Minister of Health John Dornan said the portion was built with the aboriginal successful mind.

"We tin grip this colonisation roar and more," Dornan said. "So, determination was immoderate truly guardant reasoning astir that and it's travel to carnivore fruit."

He said further staffing for the portion volition airs a situation for the government.

Rachel Comeau's household utilized the services of the neonatal intensive attraction portion astatine the infirmary successful 2020 erstwhile her triplets were calved astatine 32 weeks.

Comeau said they spent 26 days successful the neonatal intensive attraction portion and different household celebrated 100 days successful the portion portion they were there.

She said having "this astonishing installation that has compassionate care" volition astir apt support galore families from having to look for attraction elsewhere.

Comeau and her hubby raised funds to instal unrecorded cameras successful the portion truthful families tin ticker their babies portion extracurricular of the hospital. They volition besides money caller chairs and fridges for the rooms. 

The full outgo of the caller obstetrics and newborn-care portion was $43.7 million, according to the Department of Health.