News Room - Recent News

BY CYNTHIA H. CHO
247-4744
June 28, 2007

NEWPORT NEWS -- Parents and family members of newborns admitted into the advanced special care nursery unit at Bon Secours Mary Immaculate Hospital have a little less to worry about.

Those with a username and password can watch live video of the babies on the Internet 24 hours a day, thanks to a Web cam on the side of the babies' beds. The program launched Tuesday.

Mothers can monitor their babies from their hospital rooms, using hospital-provided laptops, and other family members can log in from their homes. All will need a username and password from the hospital.

"Mom and dad have a baby in the hospital. Mom and dad go home but baby can't go home. Mom and dad still worry. They can go on their computer and there is a Web cam on the baby," said spokeswoman Lynne Zultanky.

The advanced special care nursery is designed for babies born at 30 weeks or above and need to be monitored by a nursing staff. They are in less critical conditions than those admitted into a neonatal intensive care unit. As of Wednesday, one baby's family was participating in the program; the maximum capacity at the hospital's advanced special care nursery is five.

No other hospital in the region offers this kind of service. Many hospitals within Riverside Health System, Sentara Healthcare and Bon Secours Hampton Roads give parents the option of posting still photos of their newborns on the Internet, through the hospitals' or contractors' Web sites.