ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Golisano Children’s Hospital is giving new parents a way to see their new babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit 24/7.
They’ve installed 20 cameras that parents can access from home. The cameras are called AngelEye. Parents who have babies who need to stay in the NICU for longer than a couple of days can request to use one.
Dr. Jeff Meyers is the medical director of the NICU at Golisano. He said sadly, many parents can’t take their baby home right away.
“Many families end up having a baby that needs to be here longer than a couple of days more like several weeks to even several months and so for those families life still goes on, they still have to go to work, they have other kids to take care of, other life responsibilities that preclude them from being here 24/7,” said Dr. Meyers.
The hospital is making that separation a little easier with AngelEye. The cameras are set up in the NICU and families can sign up to use one. The nurse sets up each camera to show each specific family’s baby and parents can sign in and watch their little one from their computer or the app.
“For those families, it allows them to feel better about not being here and just feel reassured that their baby’s being well cared for and that they have a chance to see their baby,” said Dr. Meyers.
Some other families who use it live far away or don’t have consistent transportation. Parents can also share their login with out-of-town relatives.
“We’ve had people viewing from more than 20 states within U.S., there have been over 14,000 views of babies in the NICU,” he said.
Dr. Meyers said the hospital is hoping to bring in more cameras soon. He said there are around 70 babies in the NICU on one given day and they’ve had many families show interest in using AngelEye.
The 20 cameras they have were funded by local donations. It’s free for families to use the cameras.
