The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends the following measures for safe sleep from birth to prevents SIDS or "crib death"
But, unfortunately, hospitals are using products in their newborn nurseries that do not follow these guidelines. When a newborn is swaddled in a blanket, you run the risk of swaddling too tightly and causing cold shoulder uscles and hips. If they're swaddled, too loose, this can be a suffocation risk as the blanket could come up over the face. There's even a brand of wearable sleeping sacks that are being marketed to hospitals as "safe" despite having over 36 reported infant deaths using the product. This device is not made with developmental care at the forefront of its design. The fabric is not breathable, the infant hands are loose and the shape is not ergonimcally correct. In fact, this product has had numerous safety recalls for causing SIDS deaths. This is heartbreaking to the team here at Barski Vail Designs, LLC. Help us help mothers and babies by using a Woombie Sleepy Pod from birth! Replace traditional blankets in Labor/Delivery units with a Woombie Sleepy Pod!
Reach out to find out who the sales rep and distributor is in your region or country of origin! info@barskivaildesigns.com Imagine a little by walking through the woods and coming across a butterfly trying to emerge from a cocoon. The boy is naturally anxious and picks at the cocoon to "help" the butterfly emerge, but the the butterfly is free, he flops to the ground and dies. He doesn't have the strength to fly. Anthropologists theorize that humans once had a gestational period of twelve months, therefore a human newborn is essentially still a fetus for the first three months of live, commonly known as the "fourth trimester". We can assist their transition from the womb to the world by swaddling in a womb-like environment during the first few months of life. A butterfly pulled from its cocoon too soon was robbed of the time to strengthen its legs and wings to fly independently. Emerging from the cocoon on its own helps strengthen it- its a natural process. A newborn infant kicks and moves in its mother to build its muscles. They push up against the uterine walls, they respond well to boundaries and feel secure in the tight quarters of a swaddle pod until sight is more developed and they don't feel so lost in space in this big new world. The warmth of a swaddle also provides thermoregulation! A Woombie Med Pod eases the transition from the womb to the world, providing boundaries to calm the moro reflex (fight or flight nuerological response).
Woombie Med Pods are made with slight stretch to allow the infant to build muscle tone while wiggling and squirming within the fabric to self soothe, similar to the way it moves inutero. Woombie Med Pods feature a patented peanut shape that allows range of motion in the shoulders and the hips without any loose parts that could lead to increased SIDS risks. Take a Woombie Sleepy Pod AND a Woombie Bili Pod with you in your hospital bag for delivery! Gift both at every baby shower to support safe sleep and psychosocial development of newborns! Request your hospital and birth center carry Woombie Med Pods for support. WoombieMedPods.com Imagine the heartbreak felt when I heard from a woman whose friend had a baby admitted for jaundice in a hospital based in the northeast region of the US. The baby was visibly, and audibly upset for 36 hours while receiving phototherapy treatment, unable to be toucher or held by her mother. The woman asked the nurses if she could bring a Woombie Bili Pod in to support the crying newborn and a nurse responded, "The babies don't remember this". Hmmmm, sure, its true there's no conscience memory of the pain and discomfort, but research shows stress has negative effects on brain development, even while inutero (in the womb). A fetus in its mother's womb feel stress of it's mother and can spike cortisol levels and experience firing and rewiring of nuerons in the brain that prewire the baby for stress. An infant born into a stressful environment can experience the same cortisol spike, heartrate increase, low oxidation, or worse- failure to thrive. These babies need our support now more than ever to bring them comfort in their new world and ease the transition from the womb to the world. They need to know this world is safe and that their socio-emotional development is just as important to us, their caregivers, as their physiological health. If you're in the midwest, we are represented by Med Alliance.
If you're on the west coast, we are represented by Medical Dynamics. McArthur Medical represents us in Canada. Please go to WoombieMedPods.com or call 1-877-MED-PODS Woombie Med Pods were designed by a nurse, Karen Barski, and a Child Life Specialist and Family Therapist, Chelsea Vail. Together, Barski Vail Designs, LLC was born to provide empathy-based products for the underserved patient populations on the pediatric units of childrens hospitals. Thats right, PEDIATRICS, there are millions of babies hospitalized daily OUTSIDE the NICU. Full-term babies admitted for jaundice, flu, RSV, abuse, burns, trauma, cystic-fribrosis, leukemia, opioid withdrawl, gastroschisis, post-operative care, cardiac needs, and so many other diagnosis and treatment needs. Whats the problem?Theres almost no developmental care for these babies on the pediatric side. Often they're given an oversized, loose fitting patient gown and a huge barred sterile crib in a cold room with bright lights. Perhaps they're swaddled in an itchy overbleached blanket and unwrapped and rewrapped every 2-4 hours for vital signs and they houdini out of the swaddle quicker than that are are left flailing and crying until someone can get to them to provide comfort. Then, theres the procedures...Imagine a baby being hospitalized with, or without, parental support. Perhaps parents are tending to other kids or at work to maintain insurance and stay employed. Perhaps they're hospitalized themselves... so, baby is admitted and needs a heel stick, blood draw and IV placement. Perhaps they need a PICC line or EEG. Or, maybe, they'll need CT scan, MRI, x-rays. No matter the procedure, to an infant, this is traumatic and stressful and causes firing and prewiring of neurons for stress in the brain. The Woombie Med Pod line can be used for comfort, calmin and procedural support! Procedural support via comfort positioning! Paging Child Life...The Woombie Med Pod can comfort the baby 360 degrees during scans, EEG, or post trauma during triage. If an IV or PICC line needs to be placed, one arm can be pulled from snaps at the armpit while still swaddling the baby. The double zipper allows easy access to diaper area for VCUG, circumcision, wound care, or feet for IV or blood draw.
Child Life Specialists, we need you to advocate for the Woombie Med Pod line at your hospital! Swaddling and comfort positioning should be best practices to reduce trauma and improve psychsocial care of pediatric infants 0-3 months during hospitalization. |
AuthorChelsea Vail, MA, CCLS, Newborn Care Specialist and contributing inventor of Woombie Med Pods. Archives
April 2024
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