Every year 15 million premature babies are born in the world, who are cared for in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) until they are ready to go home. The environment in the NICUs influences the development of the premature baby, so Even if you are prepared to stimulate and take care of it, it can be unwelcome.
That is why parents are invited to be present as long as possible next to their children while they are admitted to the NICU. But It is not always possible for this to happen and a hospital in Atlanta knows it, so it has someone willing to help: the "Grandfather ICU".
The Child Health Care area of the Scottish Ride Hospital in Atlanta has someone very special: David Deutchman, better known as "ICU Granpa" (Grandpa UCI), who He is a volunteer grandfather who, during his spare time, goes to hug babies that are there when their parents are not there.
Though He is 12 years attending as a volunteer with this noble and tender gesture towards babiesIt was recently made known by an image that was taken by one of the mothers who has a baby in the NICU and was subsequently shared on the hospital's Facebook page.
They call him the UCI Grandfather. On Tuesdays, he visits the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit to support babies whose parents cannot be with them on that day. On Thursdays, he does the same in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
This photograph was taken by baby Logan's mother, while she tried to hold back the tears of joy. Logan has six weeks in our hospital. Every night, his mother goes home to be with his older sister. Every morning, she returns to the hospital feeling "anxious that her baby has missed her mommy." On this particular morning, she walked to the Pediatric ICU and found Logan - her premature baby born just 25 weeks - in David's arms, who smiled at him and introduced himself as the ICU Grandfather. This photo captures a precious moment with a hospital volunteer who has become a legend, and who has supported patients, and also the hands of his parents, for 12 years.
The image immediately He went viral and was filled with positive comments, applauding and admiring the noble work of the UCI Grandfather, which has not only helped the babies there, but entire families with the beautiful volunteering they do in both ICUs.
David started volunteering after retiring from his career in international marketing. He is the father of two daughters and grandfather of two grandchildren. In one of the main comments of the publication, we read the testimony of one of his daughters, Susan, who wrote: "I've known David as a special man for 53 years - he's my dad! Reading the hundreds of comments and seeing the signs of affection is something that is very moving for our whole family. Thanks for recognizing my dad. He really loves what he does."
In other comments, you can read the testimony of some fathers and mothers who met David while their babies were in the hospital, in which We can see the love they have for UCI Grandpa, not only for hugging their children, but also because it was a great support for them, by encouraging them and chatting with them to make them feel better.
A couple of days later the hospital shared a video in which David talks a little about what he feels when he is holding the babies.
Some of my friends asked me what I do here, and I told them "I hug babies. Sometimes they throw me up, sometimes they pee on me. It's great." They asked me: "But why do you do that?" They just don't understand, the kind of reward you can have in holding such a baby.
The power of a hug
What David does has a reason for being. Feeling that they are loaded, that they are hugged or taken by the hand, is something that can be very beneficial for premature babies. For example, the journal Biological Psychiatry published a study that showed that premature babies admitted to the NICU who were cuddled from birth have better sleep habits and remain more attentive than those who had not been cuddled.
In addition, it is proven that premature babies need to feel that they are touched to have a better brain development. In some hospitals, they even request voluntary huggers for premature babies who are admitted to the NICU.
So applause and my recognition for David and all the hugging grandparents that attend ICUs to embrace not only babies but also their families.
