Mums, babies and an iPad

A Los Angeles hospital says it is using iPads to let new mothers bond with their babies even when they are in separate areas of the facility. Mothers who are not ambulatory after delivery, perhaps because of a Caesarean section or other complications, are able to see their newborns in the Cedars-Sinai Hospital's neonatal intensive care unit on iPads using a secured Internet connection, the hospital said in a release Thursday. The program, called BabyTime, allows them to interact with their infants and the medical team caring for them. "BabyTime will help bridge communication with the family and the baby's medical team and is an excellent use of technology to help new mothers bond with their babies, even when they cannot be physically at their babies' bedside," Charles F. Simmons Jr. of the Cedars-Sinai Department of Pediatrics said. "When doctors and nurses are treating a newborn in the NICU, mom can be right there asking questions and getting updates, even if she's on a different floor." Twenty percent to 30 percent of mothers who undergo C-sections do not feel well enough to travel from their bed in the labor and delivery unit to the NICU for the first 24 to 48 hours, Simmons said. When a baby is admitted to the NICU, an iPad is set up next to the infant's incubator, while a second iPad is delivered to the new mother, who can log onto BabyTime twice a day, hospital staff said. "The BabyTime program will reduce fear and stress in the new moms as they are able to see their babies and also communicate with the doctors and nurses," NICU nurse manager Selma Braziel said.