As a labor and delivery nurse at the Franciscan Health Family Birth Center in Olympia Fields, Heather Carter was confident of the quality of care she and her baby would receive there.
What the New Lenox mom did not anticipate was that Liam would be born at 36 weeks and experience difficulty breathing, requiring a longer stay.
“They provided excellent care, but it was still pretty scary to experience being on the other side and in need of specialized services,” Carter said.
Fortunately for Carter and moms in similar situations, the Franciscan Health Family Birth Center is equipped with the AngelEye Health System.
AngelEye is a secure, live-stream video camera system that allows parents to keep a virtual eye on their hospitalized child anytime, from anywhere.
“AngelEye helped a lot,” Carter said. “It’s a very nice tool for moms, especially when there are other children at home. It’s hard to feel like you need to split yourself between your kids at home and your sick baby.”
It helped Carter’s entire family deal with the separation from Liam. Implementing it while on family excursions, she said, was “kind of like having Liam there.”
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Heather’s 2-year-old son was unable to visit his new baby brother. With AngelEye, he was able to see Liam on the screen. Carter said he would reach out, touch the screen and say, “Baby brother?”
The video quality provided by the AngelEye system is excellent. Carter said Liam was tachypneic, which caused him to breath rapidly. Using AngelEye, she was able to watch his respiration slow down.
“I was becoming less stressed,” she said. “It was reassuring to be able to see him not struggle so much to breathe.”
Carter said without AngelEye, she would have been waiting for her next in-person visit to hear her son was improving. Being able to see it for herself on camera was a relief.
The AngelEye view also helped Carter feel like she was more involved in Liam’s care. Carter strongly recommends AngelEye for any mother with a baby in the Special Care Nursery.
“This virtual visiting system is a great alternative to solving certain visiting obstacles that might make it difficult for siblings, grandparents and other family members to meet the new addition to their family due to the hospitals’ visiting hours, age restrictions or travel impediments,” Franciscan Health Olympia Fields Director of Patient Care Services Joan Culver said. “We are happy to provide families with this convenient accessible technology for ease of mind.”
The Franciscan Health Family Birth Center is the only Special Care Nursery in Chicago’s Southland to offer the AngelEye Health System.
More information about the Olympia Fields Franciscan Health Family Birth Center, including a virtual tour, is available online or by phone at 708-852-2600.