Posted: 3/27/2015
Child Life Specialists Month recognizes support provided to families
Maria Alejandre was anxious when her high-risk pregnancy led to her hospitalization at Parkland Memorial Hospital for two weeks before her baby daughter was born. In addition to concerns about the health of her premature baby, she also had a family to consider.
But thanks to the hospital’s Child Life Specialists, many of her worries were eased through parenting classes and other activities.
“They pamper you,” she said of the Child Life Specialists. “I would have gone crazy in the hospital without the classes that they offer. I was depressed because I couldn’t have my baby yet, and I couldn’t be at home with my children.”
March is Child Life Specialists Month, honoring the pediatric health care professionals who work with children and families in hospitals and other health care settings to help them cope with the challenges of hospitalization, illness and disability. They provide children with age-appropriate preparation for medical procedures, pain management and coping strategies, and play and self-expression activities. They also provide information, support and guidance to parents, siblings and other family members.
While Parkland is primarily dedicated to caring for adults, the hospital has a robust Women & Infant’s Specialty Health (WISH) division. More than 10,000 babies are born annually in Parkland and nearly 1,000 newborns require care each year in the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NNICU).
Parkland’s Child Life Specialists team includes five full-time members who focus on the whole family – from preemies to moms-to-be and adults who may have difficulty explaining hospitalization or medical procedures to their children. They work with pediatric patients as well as siblings of hospitalized children in Parkland’s NNICU, Newborn Nursery/Ante-partum, Trauma Department and Burn Center.
“My goal is to normalize the hospital experience by providing crisis intervention to teenagers following a traumatic event, offering psychosocial support for patients and their families, preparing children for procedures and educating them on their diagnosis,” said Ashley Simpson, a Child Life Specialist in Parkland’s Trauma Department. “We also help comfort and distract children during medical procedures to make the experience less stressful” she explained.
Madeleine Pennington, Child Life Specialist in the NNICU, stated, “Assessing the family’s needs and figuring out the best way to meet them is an important part of the services we provide. High-risk expectant mothers who are put on bed-rest in the hospital, like Maria, need our help, too. We offer classes to them three afternoons a week that are something they look forward to – it’s a time for education in parenting skills, breastfeeding and other aspects of infant care, but we also make it fun for them.”
For Alejandre, the Child Life Specialists at Parkland made all the difference.
“I love them. I can’t express it. They helped me out a lot during a very stressful time,” she said.
For more information on Women & Infant’s Specialty Health programs at Parkland, please visit www.ParklandWomenandInfants.com. For more information on Child Life Specialists, visit www.childlife.org