This week, Pennsylvania Hospital installed new technology at the Intensive Care Nursery.
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"They allow parents to live stream video of their infant to their phone or any other device 24 hours a day, and they are able to share those videos with families near and far," said Lindsay Kirker, the nurse manager of Intensive Care Nursery at Pennsylvania Hospital. "Being able to provide this virtual visitation can really help with bonding and kind of easy anxieties that parents may have when they can't be here by their side."
Each of the 50 infant bedsides is now equipped with what they call 'Angel Eye cameras.'
For Nicole Cicali, this has allowed her older son to see his baby brother Santino, born at 28 weeks at just one pound, 13 ounces.
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"Being able to check the camera at night before I go to bed gives me that peace of mind before I go to sleep at night," Cicali said. "I see that he's peacefully sleeping. Typically, if your kid were home, you'd go check in his room, see that he's sleeping in his crib before you go to bed. I'm able to do that virtually, so that's been great."
Pennsylvania Hospital spent years fundraising for these cameras.
Families say this is especially helpful in the age of COVID-19 when visitations have been limited.