05 Feb Turning Fear Into Hope: The Life-Changing Impact of NICU Professionals and Madelyn’s Fund
By Dr. Chuck Engstrom
When you see or hear the term “Neonatal Intensive Care Unit” or NICU what picture comes to mind? The NICU at first appears to be a sterile, foreboding environment lined with rows of incubators, filled with babies of all sizes, and surrounded by what seems to be an endless number of computer screens. If that is not scary enough, the room is teeming with people in different colored surgical scrubs, many with masks covering their faces. Additionally, no one chooses to just pay a causal visit to the NICU. The family coming to the NICU for the first time is also thrust into the reality that their baby, who minutes before seemed safe in the womb, is now in the middle of this sea of technology being cared for by people whom they have never met.
However, as we all have experienced, things are not always as they seem. Soon after arriving in the nursery a different picture begins to develop and by the time parents depart the NICU a complete paradigm shift commonly has occurred. This new view primarily develops because moms and dads meet the people behind the masks who, while being highly trained and professional, also do not view working in the NICU as a job, but as a calling to care for the most vulnerable among us. They also find that these medical professionals not only love their baby, but that part of their calling is to also tenderly care for the parents too.
There are times when a family’s view of the NICU is affected by circumstances out of their control. For example, many families face significant challenges visiting the NICU because they either cannot afford transportation costs, or must choose between paying of utility bills, or buying food, or gas. There are also parents who experience the heartache of their infant’s death and then face the additional sorrow of not being able to afford funeral costs. These seemingly insurmountable obstacles can profoundly affect a parent’s NICU experience. It is very difficult for the medical team to interact with a family when they cannot consistently spend time at their infant’s bedside. It is at this point that Madelyn’s Fund comes alongside them in their time of need by providing gas cards for transportation costs, paying utility bills, and providing assistance with nearby lodging. Additionally, for those brokenhearted families unable to afford the cost of a funeral for their loved one, Madelyn’s Fund provides for that need too. For additional information on all the ways Madelyn’s Fund assists families in need, please click here, and as you learn more, consider giving a donation to show mercy to these families in need.
Dr. Chuck Engstrom
Neonatologist, Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics at Levine Children’s Hospital, and Madelyn’s Fund Board Member.
Dr. Engstrom, a dedicated neonatologist, earned his MD from Wake Forest School of Medicine in 1983. He completed his Pediatrics residency at North Carolina Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem in 1986, followed by a fellowship in Neonatology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1989. Dr. Engstrom served on the faculty at the Medical University of South Carolina before moving to Charlotte, where he spent 30 years working in the NICU at Atrium Health’s Levine Children’s Hospital. Since his retirement in April 2022, he continues to share his expertise as an Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics at Levine Children’s Hospital. In addition to his medical contributions, Dr. Engstrom serves on the Board of Directors for Madelyn’s Fund and as an Elder on the Session of Threshold Church (EPC) in Weddington, NC.
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