Piedmont Macon highlights NICU support during awareness month

Eternity Fleming weighed two pounds at birth. Eight months later, her mother says she is a healthy 18-pound baby.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — Piedmont Macon is highlighting specialized care and support available to families with babies in its neonatal intensive care unit during NICU Awareness Month.

September is NICU Awareness Month, honoring the tiniest fighters, their families and the medical teams caring for them. Kaitlyn Johnson, a lactation counselor at Piedmont Macon, says celebrating NICU families this month is especially meaningful, recognizing their strength and the support they receive along the way.

“I feel like it’s special,” she said. “These are our most vulnerable babies, and they deserve all the love they can get. Especially being able to come back in and see some of these babies, it’s always so special.”

Armando Castillo, medical director of the Piedmont Macon NICU, says this month is especially meaningful to him. He says he’s honored that so many mothers have trusted Piedmont with the health and care of their babies, and he recognizes the importance of providing families with compassionate, specialized care during such an important time in their lives.

“One in every 10 babies are born prematurely, and they need help from the NICU,” Castillo said. “And there all full-term babies that are born with some kind of illness and have to come to the NICU and be treated.”

Eight months ago, Aspen Corbitt found herself in this exact position with her daughter, Eternity Fleming. Eternity was born weighing just two pounds and spent her earliest days needing specialized care. With the support of the team at Piedmont Macon, Eternity has grown into a healthy 18-pound baby, a milestone her mother says is a testament to the care and support they received.

“I’m used to taking all my children home, and she was the first I didn’t get to take home,” Corbitt said. “And it kept being pushed back on, if she was or wasn’t coming home. So, it was a little scary but, as long has you have faith your good.”

Johnson says many mothers with babies in the NICU may have difficulty producing enough breast milk naturally. To help meet those babies’ nutritional needs, Piedmont provides Prolacta through a donated breast milk program, giving premature and medically fragile infants access to the nourishment they need during their critical first days of life.

“To be able to provide babies with that nutrition, that’s the safest for their guts,” Johnson said. “That donor breast milk is essential for that. Most of the time if you give a premature baby formula too soon, it can cause a lot of complications, so we always like to have that donor breast milk available for them.”

“I loved it, because I couldn’t produce as much milk as I did with my other three kids,” Corbitt said. “So, that actually helped me out.”

Johnson gives families and the community tips on how they can support parents with babies in the NICU.

“It’s a very vulnerable time when you have a NICU baby,” Johnson said. “They’re not able to bond with them the same way, so just being there for them, listening to them. Same goes for family, just be their resource, give them everything you can, and help them out in any way possible.”

Piedmont Macon says this month it is reminding families they don’t have to go through the journey alone.