Shelmonie and baby Chase were the first to use the new transition room at Regional Medical Center.

The neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Regional Medical Center is a home away from home for some of this community’s tiniest new citizens. For days, weeks and sometimes months, parents wait with anticipation for the day they can take their baby home with them from the NICU.  However, that excitement also comes with a fair share of anxiety when the time comes.  Thanks to a new transition room at Regional Medical Center, moms are now receiving a little extra help to prepare them for home. Parents can spend the night in the room on their baby’s last night at the hospital. The room is set up like a home nursery to give moms the feeling they are at home, but they still have access to medical care if needed.

“We are using this room for moms who might need a little extra teaching time or to prepare for babies going home on a home apnea monitor,” said Kelley Smith, NICU nurse manager.  “Or sometimes for a baby who has been in the NICU long term whose mom might need a little extra help transitioning to home.”

The creation of the transition room was funded by a grant secured from the First Tennessee Foundation by the Regional One Health Foundation.