Reunited: Former neonatal patients rekindle bond with Lakeway hospital staff

After five years of operation at the former Lakeway Regional Medical Center, now the Baylor Scott & White Medical Center-Lakeway facility, the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU, hosted a superhero-themed reunion party April 9 to reunite staff with former patients and their families.

The NICU provides post-delivery care to newborns who need specialized assistance or who were born premature, said Halie Knuff, a registered NICU nurse who helped organize the reunion. Common services the NICU provides to infants include respiratory support, light treatment for jaundice, intravenous antibiotics, and low blood sugar treatment and monitoring, she said.

The NICU has served over 140 families since it opened in 2012, but many nurses and patients stop interacting after a patient’s stay, Knuff said. 

“We send patients home when they’re only 4 or 5 pounds and never really see them again after that,” she said. “Depending on how long they’re in the NICU, you can develop a bond with some families and they’ll do things like send Christmas cards, but that isn’t too common. The only other time we might see them is as a sibling if [a former patient’s] mother has another baby with the same doctor.”

At the reunion, the NICU staff wore superhero T-shirts with a lightning bolt and the hospital’s logo, and children were given superhero capes or bibs, depending on their ages, Knuff said. There were also refreshments, a bounce house and a bubble machine, she said.

“[A reunion] is something other NICUs have done and I had been interested in, and with the hospital’s support, we put it together,” Knuff said. “We didn’t really know how many families would be interested, because people move away and see other doctors, so the goal was to have 20 families participate and we were beyond excited about the turnout.” 

Due to the interest at this year’s reunion event, she said Baylor Scott & White Medical Center-Lakeway is planning to hold another NICU party next year.