Tulsa Birth Equity Initiative

PROJECT PURPOSE

Tulsa Birth Equity Initiative (TBEI) works to equip families to have healthy births with dignity and reduce maternal health disparities. TBEI partners with Hillcrest Medical Center to support innovations and improvements in maternal/infant healthcare. These funds will be used to better engage families and enhance familial bonding with neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) patients, via installation of NICView 2 cameras at Hillcrest Hospital NICU. These cameras allow parents or other caregivers to see their baby via live video stream at any time from any location.

EVIDENCE

Hillcrest has one of three NICUs in Tulsa and is the only one that does not yet have a way for parents and caregivers to view babies while in the NICU. https://www.pediatricnursing.org/article/S0882-5963(20)30016-6/fulltext

POPULATION DESCRIPTION

80% of Hillcrest NICU families have open DHS cases. Typically this is because of reported substance use issues. Furthermore, many NICU families are lower income and have hourly jobs, which they cannot miss to stay at the hospital with their newborns in the NICU. Due to the pandemic restrictions, visitors are limited and sometimes unable to enter the NICU to visit their baby. These factors increase the risk of attachment issues between babies and parents. NICView 2 enables families to see their newborns safely and securely regardless of whether they are at the hospital. NICView 2 is considered an important part of a modern NICU to improve parental ? infant attachment through an incredibly stressful situation for new families. NICView 2 is also an important tool for health equity given it will significantly benefit low income families and historically marginalized communities including people of color.

PERFORMANCE MEASURING

Hillcrest Medical will facilitate project performance and measuring through quality improvement program. TBEI will provide support to ensure project success and sustainability.

ONGOING INVESTMENT AMOUNT

$

ONGOING INVESTMENT DESCRIPTION

None

ONGOING INVESTMENT REQUIRED

One-time project will not need continued funding