Baby Born Prematurely? Here Are 3 Resources You Can Turn to Now

For many parents, premature birth is unexpected, scary, and overwhelming. It's true that medically, we have made many advances to help premature babies survive and thrive, but even so, it can be a time of great uncertainty and heightened anxiety caused by the many ups and downs that are often the hallmark of prematurity. It's critical to have support during this time. In addition to the medical and emotional support from health care providers, family, and friends, you may need additional resources. The following three online resources dedicated to helping parents navigate the confusing and worrisome first few weeks and months of life with a premature baby.

Graham's Foundation

Supporting the acute needs of preemies and their parents. The organization also supports advocacy and research to impact the future outcomes of preemies. Services include:

• NICU, transition home, and remembrance care package programs
• Trained preemie parent mentors available 24/7 via email, phone, and text
• MyPreemie, the market-leading app for parents of premature babies
• Online communities with over 30k engaged parents making new connections

Hand to Hold

Hand to Hold is a non profit parent support organization founded by mothers who gave birth to premature babies and found the need for a community of other parents who had gone through similiar experiences. The site offers peer-to-peer support nationwide allowing parents to connect across the country to share their personal experiences. Other resources include FAQs, educational videos and articles, resources in Spanish, a resource directory and "meet the provider" interviews.

Peek a Boo ICU

For help navigating the NICU with a preemie. Included on the site are resources for preemie development, informational articles for parents experiencing NICU, and a free app you can download which offers "an empowering and educational pocket guide to prematurity, helping to reshape the preemie parent experience from day one."

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