Families from up and down the Island got together on the West Shore on Thursday to connect with fellow parents and celebrate the team of hard-working nurses who make Victoria General's neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) tick.
“People come back, communicate with the nursing staff, see peers who they’ve seen in the hospital and have shared experiences with,” said Jody Baker, the NICU's clinical nurse leader. “It’s just really nice for the nursing staff, too, to be able to see babies and … how they’re progressing and talk to the families.”
Aptly named the NICU Reunion, the event has taken place annually for 38 years, this time between 10 a.m. and noon on the sunny patio outside of Jeneece Place – a 10-bedroom facility that offers space for children and families to stay while they receive medical care in Victoria.
One of the parents there to celebrate the unit and its dedicated staff was Lake Cowichan resident and dad of two Steve Olson.
“The hospital, the NICU itself and Jeneece Place really saved my son’s life," he said.
Olson's one-year-old boy Buddy was born on Sept. 21 – three months before his Dec. 23 due date. He weighed just 1.4 pounds then, which Olson explained caused complications that necessitated a whopping 130-day stay in the NICU.
“I think he’s a legend in there now,” he said. “I’ve seen the nurses who were with us every day and the staff – it’s great. We were excited for this day.”
Also at the picnic, mom Sophia Chadwick explained she bumped into one of the NICU nurses who helped look after her now five-year-old son Rally in 2020.
“It was nice for her to see how he’s turned out over the last four or five years,” she said. “For the employees, it’s almost like closure – a full-circle moment.”
Chadwick also spoke highly of the unit itself, which she explained afforded her a "safe haven" to connect with nurses and other parents.
“It felt like family when I’d walk in there,” she said. “I could just come in and relax, and they would help me with Rally and it felt safe. And then you also felt heard and validated being around other parents who are going through the same things and experiencing the same emotions that you are experiencing.”
Saanich mom Susanna Yee was also there with her son Anders, who spent 35 days in the NICU 10 years ago.
“It is nice to know after so many years that the staff is still here and that they remember you," she said. "That’s the amazing thing."
Of the 3,000 babies born every year at Victoria General, just over 15 per cent spend time in the NICU. The unit also treats youngsters across B.C.
