Dr. Esther Rai is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. Dr. Rai earned her medical degree in 2008 from the Medical University of the Americas, St. Kitts & Nevis.  She completed her pediatric residency training at Michigan State University in 2012, before returning to Canada to attend Western University, to complete her fellowship training in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine in 2015. She subsequently completed Western University’s Clinical Investigator Program in 2016.  Dr. Rai’s academic interest lies in Quality Improvement (QI) in neonatal care – with a focus in QI related to neonatal growth and nutrition, as well as neonatal outreach education, and nosocomial infection prevention. She has implemented numerous evidence-based guidelines and chairs several quality improvement committees including the neonatal nutrition committee.  Dr. Rai is the site-investigator for EPIQ (Evidence-based Practice for Improving Quality), which focuses on implementing evidence-based best practices in NICUs across Canada, to improve quality of care and outcomes.

Dr. Esther Rai

Liquid Gold: The Importance of Breast Milk in the NICU

Summary: We will discuss the importance of breast milk in the neonatal intensive care unit, explain the benefits of breast milk, and talk about strategies to improve mother's milk supply. We will also talk about the use of donor breast milk, and the different fortifiers that are added to breast milk to provide appropriate nutrition and achieve adequate growth for preterm babies.

Karen’s forty-year career has helped her become an expert in the support of premature babies and their families after NICU discharge. Karen has made presentations locally, nationally, and internationally, and she has written and taught online courses to educate nurses about how to care for babies in the NICU. She has also been a research co-investigator and has published articles related to premature babies. And she served on the executive boards of the Canadian and International associations for neonatal nurses.

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Karen and her colleague, Tammy Sherrow, coauthored an essential parent book for parents of premature babies titled, Preemie Care: A guide to navigate the first year with your premature baby.

Karen Lasby

What can parents do when feeding problems surface after NICU discharge?

Summary:

Feeding concerns are very common after babies leave the NICU. Perhaps your baby is not taking enough or is not giving clear signals for hunger or satiation. You might notice that your baby seems to lack suck-swallow-breathe coordination. You don’t want your baby back in hospital and you want your baby well nourished and gaining weight. And your NICU feeding plan no longer applies to your baby. What is a parent to do? 

In this presentation we will explore signs of feeding trouble that commonly occur in the early weeks after NICU discharge. Easy strategies for parents to implement at home will be described.

Takeshi Arimitsu, MD, PhD

Dr. Takeshi Arimitsu is a neonatologist in the Department of Pediatrics at the Keio University Hospital School of Medicine. In 2019, he was the attending physician during the delivery of what was then the world’s smallest baby boy. Weighing just 268 grams at birth, the infant left the hospital in good health and no serious complications. Dr. Arimitsu has extensive experience in caring for marginally viable small infants, including a girl weighing 265 grams at birth in 2007 (the second smallest baby in the world at the time). He bases his medical treatment on being natural and warmhearted, believing that less medical treatment and more pleasant experiences for the baby should be the main points of consideration. Dr. Arimitsu integrates all possible strengths in treatment—including the patient’s family, staff, new medical devices, and the NICU environment—to support infants and their future lives. He has authored textbooks on developmental care and peer-reviewed publications on non-invasive functional neuroimaging. He also established the Japanese Organization for NICU Families, the first nationwide parental network for preterm infants in Japan, and has been providing family support as its representative director. Over the past decade, he has been awarded several research grants by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan.

Dr. Takeshi Arimitsu

Challenges and chances in marginally viable tiny infants

Summary:

In 2019, a male infant born at 24 weeks of gestation with a birth weight of 268 g was discharged from hospital, where Dr. Arimitsu was the attending physician, without the requirement for home oxygen therapy or tube feeding. The case demonstrates that  survival without major complications of a marginally viable tiny infant is possible with minimal handling, family involvement and breastfeeding beginning shortly after birth. Dr. Arimitsu hopes  this presentation will  provide valuable information to physicians, families and people who are related to tiny babies. 

Dr. Unger comes from the East Coast where she completed her training before moving to Toronto. ​She is a neonatologist at Sinai Health, a professor at the University of Toronto and the medical director for the Rogers Hixon Ontario Human Milk Bank. She is a primary investigator for the MaxiMoM: Maximizing Mother's Milk program of human milk research and in 2020, she was award new funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to study the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on human milk.

Dr. Sharon Unger

Human milk and COVID-19: Implications for the NICU and the milk bank

Summary:

The current pandemic has had a profound effect on medicine including in the NICU. This talk will focus on the provision of human milk for vulnerable, hospitalized infants with a focus on parent's milk first. Human milk banks are also vulnerable during a pandemic and evidence for the safety and the importance of donor milk will be presented.

Jaclyn Erasmi has been a Registered Nurse for 20 years. Her primary focus has been in Maternal-Child health, having worked in all areas including Antenatal, Postpartum and NICU. She is currently a member of the Breastfeeding Program at SickKids working as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant.  

Samantha Sullivan is a Registered Nurse and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, with varied experience. She has worked at SickKids for almost 20 years and is a member of the Breastfeeding Program, providing support to families in the NICU and throughout the hospital. 

Laura McLean is a Registered Nurse and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, currently working as a member of the Breastfeeding Program at SickKids. In addition, she has been a guest lecturer at U of T for the last 5 years teaching nursing students about infant feeding and nutrition. 

Lactation Consultant Team from SickKids Hospital: 

Supporting breastfeeding and the provision of breastmilk at SickKids Hospital during a Pandemic

Summary:

http://www.sickkids.ca/breastfeeding-program

For the hospitalized infant, providing breastmilk and/or breastfeeding during a pandemic can create unique challenges for parents. The SickKids Breastfeeding team describes how they have adapted their care for the parent/ infant during this time in order to safely provide and coordinate the provision of breastmilk for this vulnerable population.

Johanna Kostenzer PhD is Head of Scientific Affairs at the European Foundation for the Care of Newborn Infants (EFCNI) in Munich, Germany. Her current projects focus on the impact of COVID-19 on neonatal care and on the need for regulation of donated human milk in the European Union. With her academic expertise in the field of reproductive health and health governance, Johanna supports EFCNI’s mission to pave the way for the best start in life.

Dr. Johanna Kostenzer

Global impact of COVID-19 on neonatal care – parents’ perceptions.

Summary:

The COVID-19 pandemic has created exceptional challenges, especially for the care of the most vulnerable groups of patients such as sick and preterm born children in need of special or intensive care. In the course of the pandemic, several measures were taken to reduce social interaction and the risk for transmission, but especially also in hospitals and neonatal intensive care units, restrictive measures were implemented. This talk will focus on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on special/intensive care for newborns by discussing recent results of a global study exploring parents’ experiences during the pandemic.

Medical Doctor and PhD from University of Buenos Aires, MPH from University of El Salvador (Buenos Aires, Argentina), and specialized in Pediatrics at the Children's Hospital Pedro de Elizalde, Fellow in International Nutrition and Nutritional Epidemiology (Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA). Master in Journalism and scientific, medical and environmental communication (Univ. Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona. Spain). Master in Epistemology and History of Science (University of Tres de Febrero, Argentina).

Currently Dr. Pablo Durán is the Regional Advisor on Perinatal Health at the Latin American Center for Perinatology (CLAP/SMR), Pan American Health Organization /World Health Organization.

Dr. Duran is Associate Professor from the Department of Public Health, University of Buenos Aires. He has more than twenty-five years of clinical experience, as a researcher and expert in epidemiology, monitoring and evaluation of policies and population interventions in maternal, newborn and child health

Dr. Pablo Duran

Breastfeeding, Early Nutrition and the Impact on the Life Course

Summary:

The presentation will address the importance of nutrition during fetal life and early after birth, mainly in preterm babies. Early initiation of breastfeeding is the best start for every newborn. Initiation of breastfeeding or providing mother’s milk within the first hour after birth gives them the best chance to survive, grow and develop to their full potential. Also, it is critical to support and sustain breastfeeding over the long term. When breastfeeding is delayed after birth, the consequences can be life-threatening – and the longer newborns are left waiting, the greater the risk. 

Dr. Durán will review the evidence and importance of early initiation of breastfeeding and the complementary systems of care that can help on providing the best care and nutrition to preterm babies. This will be addressed by presenting the Baby-friendly hospital initiative for small, sick and preterm newborns, recently launched. We will also analyze the potential impact of inadequate nutrition and other adverse perinatal outcomes on disabilities and long term consequences.

Both of Kate’s daughters were born preterm; one was a 500 gram 25 weeker born in 2005, and the other came at 32 weeks in 2007.  Inspired by her own experiences, she came back to the NICU in 2010 to work with families as a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Family Support Specialist. Since then, she has developed programs for hospitalized families and trained peer counsellors across Canada.  She went back to school in 2018 to become a therapist, and now has a private practice in Toronto where she offers support to NICU parents and clinicians.

Kate Robson

Foundations of Wellbeing: Daily Mental Health Practices for NICU Parents

Summary:

Kate Robson, a therapist in private practice and a Family Support Specialist in the NICU, will share mental health and wellness strategies for hospitalized families. Being in the NICU can be a traumatic experience for many, and a focus on foundational wellness is a great place to start our healing. 

Kelly Polci, MSW, RSW is a Toronto-based psychotherapist in private practice and a social worker practicing at the Hospital for Sick Children.  She only recently moved to Sick Kids after 11 years in the Women & Babies Program at Sunnybrook Health Science Centre.  Within that role, she supported hundreds of women and families navigating high-risk pregnancies and the NICU; and all the grief and trauma those experiences can bring.  Kelly's committee work includes areas of clinical passion, and additional training centre around perinatal bereavement and parental mental health.  In addition to her Master's, she seeks out training on evidence based therapeutic modalities such as Interpersonal Psychotherapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, and Emotionally-Focused Therapy.  

Kelly Polci

World Maternal Mental Health Day 2021: Incorporating Trauma-Informed Care in the NICU

Summary:

In this talk, Kelly Polci, MSW, RSW will be asking us to take some time to acknowledge World Maternal Mental Health Day 2021 which falls on May 5th.  How do we celebrate and carry forward this important cause in a COVID world?  Secondly, she will talk about Trauma-Informed Care and Trauma-Informed Care Plans.  How do TIC Plans differ from traditional FICare and how can we incorporate this important tool for use in NICUs so as to create safety and transparency, increase parental agency, and provide more collaborative care?

Diane Schultz has been a bedside nurse for 32 years in the NICU at St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba where she’s been actively involved in improving patient and family care. She is  Co-Chair for the NICU’s  FiCare committee and sits on many committees at the hospital, aiming to educate all staff on Kangaroo Care at all levels. She is also a member of the National Ficare Steering Committee and  co-producer of  a Safe Transfer Video for Kangaroo Care that has been shared internationally. Throughout her career,  Diane Schultz has been a strong advocate for patients and their families.

Diane Schultz

Kangaroo Care and Covid-19

Summary:

We need to recognize the importance of skin to skin (kangaroo care) during the pandemic and how our NICU families’ mental health has been affected due to restricted parental presence. In the NICU, we are building the future. Having  parents at the bedside, being parents, is so needed. Kangaroo care plays a huge part in building that connection within the family. It enables parents to be the most important caregivers. We need to make every effort to keep that connection intact.

Misty Williams, MSN, RNC-NIC is a Master’s prepared Neonatal Advanced Practice Partner II. 

Misty received her BS in Healthcare Administration at the University of Central Arkansas, her ADN at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and her MSN at Loyola University New Orleans. 

Misty has been involved in neonatal nursing for the past 16 years and is certified as a High Risk Neonatal Intensive Care Nurse. She is currently the Advanced Practice Partner II for the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Her current role includes providing theory and evidence-based knowledge to shape practice and core competencies for neonatal staff, professional development, regulatory compliance, oversight of nurse sensitive quality indicators, and performance improvement. Misty has a special interest in mentoring and professional development. She serves on the National Association of Neonatal Nurses Professional Development Committee and is the President-Elect of the Arkansas Association of Neonatal Nurses. She resides in Arkansas with her husband Shane, two daughters Teagan and Sierra, and her cat Luna. 

Misty Williams

Evidence-based neonatal skin care practices.

Summary:

A discussion of the latest recommendations for neonatal skin care for preterm and term infants as related to cleansers, bathing, cord care, perineal care, emollients, and oils.

Marianne has 43 years of nursing experience in neonatology, as a bedside nurse, in the neonatal follow-up clinic, subsequently the NICU parent resource nurse as well as the RSV nurse coordinator in the NICU, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto. Throughout her nursing career she advocated for parents, provided education and support created and co-led parent education programs and participated in international research on Family Integrated Care. Her experience has given her insight into the struggles parents encounter in the NICU as well as following discharge.

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Since her retirement, she is the project coordinator for an ongoing research pilot, looking at improving the transition of families and infants to home and the community.  She is an active member on the national family integrated care committee. As a member of the Canadian Premature Babies Foundation, she is currently the Chair of the Family Ambassador program, a program to continue to increase the support for NICU families both in hospital and following discharge

Dr. Theo Moraes graduated from medical school in 1997 (Toronto) and then completed his paediatric residency (Kingston) and paediatric respirology fellowship (SickKids) before pursuing a PhD (Toronto) and postdoctoral fellowship (Immunology). 

He has been a Staff Respirologist at SickKids in Toronto since 2008.  In addition to the Severe Asthma clinic and the Aerodigestive clinic, Dr. Moraes also cares for ex-premature babies in the Chronic Lung Disease of Prematurity clinic.

Dr Paes is Professor Emeritus in the Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, at McMaster Children’s Hospital/McMaster University.

He has received several teaching awards and has been recognized for his academic contributions by the President at McMaster University and the Pediatric Chairs of Canada.    Dr Paes current research interests focus predominantly on RSV in children, and thrombosis and hemostasis in the neonatal population.

Paula Meier, PhD, RN, is a Professor of Pediatrics and Nursing at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Dr. Meier has worked as a practitioner, researcher, and educator in the area of human milk, lactation and breastfeeding for premature infants and their mothers since 1975. She currently leads the multidisciplinary Rush University NICU Human Milk Research Team that has conducted numerous externally-funded translational research and demonstration projects focused on the removal of barriers to high-dose, long-exposure mothers' own milk feedings for NICU infants. Dr. Meier's lifetime research focus has been concentrated in understanding and improving the initiation and maintenance of lactation in breast pump-dependent mothers of NICU infants, as well as development of clinical techniques to optimize the impact of human milk on health and cost outcomes in NICU infants.  Dr. Meier has published over 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts and parent educational materials and has mentored graduate students from a multitude of disciplines.  She is a former president of the International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation (2012-2014) and has served for over 20 years as a member of the Health Advisory Council for La Leche League.  She has received Distinguished Alumna Awards from the University of Illinois and Rush University, and in 2013 received the Audrey Hepburn Award for Contributions to the Health and Welfare of Children from Sigma Theta Tau, International.  She serves as a member of the scientific advisory board for the Family Larsson Rosenquist Foundation, a global foundation dedicated to breastfeeding and human milk and was an invited member of the WHO task force on donor human milk, 2019.

Dr. Campbell is currently the Director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit & Deputy Chief Pediatrics at St. Michael’s Hospital. He is cross-appointed at the Hospital for Sick Children where he works regularly as a Staff Neonatologist. His academic interests include resuscitation of the neonate and the use of simulation as a toolkit for healthcare organizations. He is the Medical Director of the Allan Waters Family Simulation Centre at St. Michael’s Hospital. His academic rank at the University of Toronto is that of an Associate Professor within the Department of Pediatrics. Furthermore, he has been appointed to as an Associate Scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at St. Michael’s Hospital for his academic work in simulation.

He is a past member of the Canadian Pediatric Society National Resuscitation Program (NRP) Executive Committee and Past Chair of the Canadian NRP Research Committee. His simulation education and experience has formed a large part of his academic career as an educator, administrator and researcher. He received simulation training at Stanford University at the Center for Advanced Perinatal Education (CAPE).  He is also the Simulation Lead for the University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine.  International recognition for his work in simulation has included election to the Board of Directors of the International Pediatric Simulation Society (IPSS).

Anna Cierpich is a  Registered Nurse working in the NICU at BC Women’s Hospital in Vancouver, BC.

In 2016  she graduated from Ryerson University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing. In her  final year of school she completed her clinical placement in the NICU at Mt Sinai Hospital in Toronto. That was where  she realised that the NICU was where she wanted to continue her nursing career. After graduation, she started working in the NICU at McMaster Children’s hospital where  she worked for 3 years.

In the July of 2019 she decided to move from Ontario to British Columbia where she began working in the NICU at BC Women’s.

Dr. Paige Terrien Church is the director of Neonatal Follow Up Program at the University of Toronto.  She is also the medical director of the Neonatal Follow Up Clinic at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the Developmental Behavioral Physician Lead in the spina bifida clinic at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital.  She is is an Assistant Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto. 

Dr. Church received her medical degree at the University of Vermont, College of Medicine.  She completed pediatric training at the University of Chicago Children’s Hospital and went on to complete dual training in Neonatology and Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics at Tufts-New England Medical Center.  She is board certified through the American Board of Pediatrics in Neonatology and Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics.

Dr. Narvey began his training in Pediatrics at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg where he completed a year of further training in Neonatology. This was followed by two years of Neonatal fellowship at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Afterwards he began his career as a Neonatologist in the same city and over the 6 years he spent there, his career included both clinical and administrative duties including 4 years as the Fellowship Program Director and two years as the Medical Director for a level II unit.

In late 2010 he accepted a position in Winnipeg to become the Section Head of Neonatology and continues to hold this post.

In 2016 he took on the additional role of Medical Director of the Child Health Transport Team.

In 2015 he became a member of the Canadian Pediatric Society’s Fetus and Newborn Committee and in 2019 took over as Chair of the same. His interests predominantly lie in the use of non-invasive technology to minimize painful procedures during an infants stay in the NICU.

He is active on social media and has a passion for fundraising and is an active board member of the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba.

Marianne has 43 years of nursing experience in neonatology, as a bedside nurse, in the neonatal follow-up clinic, subsequently the NICU parent resource nurse as well as the RSV nurse coordinator in the NICU, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto. Throughout her nursing career she advocated for parents, provided education and support created and co-led parent education programs and participated in international research on Family Integrated Care. Her experience has given her insight into the struggles parents encounter in the NICU as well as following discharge.

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Since her retirement, she is the project coordinator for an ongoing research pilot, looking at improving the transition of families and infants to home and the community.  She is an active member on the national family integrated care committee. As a member of the Canadian Premature Babies Foundation, she is currently the Chair of the Family Ambassador program, a program to continue to increase the support for NICU families both in hospital and following discharge

Aruna Boodram is the autonomous parent of Surya Amaris, a lively, thriving and resilient 6 month adjusted (9 month actual) baby.

Surya is a micro-preemie who spent exactly 90 days in a level 3 and level 2 NICU.

She was discharged at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March. Aruna is currently on parental leave from her position as a Community Legal Worker at the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario. 

Rebecca Pearce is the mother of Maren, who was born at 25 weeks gestational age in 2009.

She is a long-time member of the équipe Partenariat Famille (PAF) Sainte-Justine, a team comprised of a group of veteran parents at CHU Sainte-Justine in Montreal, Québec, who act as a resource for families new to the NICU and who contribute to improving clinical care, research, and teaching by offering a critical parental viewpoint.

Rebecca has published several opinion pieces about how existing outcome research fails to meet the needs of parents or preterm children.

Rebecca is a secondary science teacher in Montreal and is a third-year Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education at McGill University, where she is studying preterm children as mathematical learners and doers.

Dr. Banihani is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Paediatrics in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto and holds an academic position in both the Division of Neonatology and Developmental Paediatrics in the university. She holds a staff position in the Department of Newborn & Developmental Paediatrics, at Sunnybrook Health Science Centre; providing clinical care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and Neonatal Follow-up clinic

At the University of Toronto, she completed dual fellowship training in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine as well as Developmental Paediatrics at Holland Bloorview. After her general Paediatric training.

Dr. Banihani also holds a Master’s degree in Health Professions Education from Maastricht University. She also finished a Research Training Program through the Harvard Medical School “Global Clinical Scholars Research Training (GCSRT) program,” which provides clinicians and clinician-scientists advanced training in the methods and conduct of clinical research.

Dr. Banihani has had a long-standing interest clinically and academically on understanding, evaluating and optimizing developmental outcomes of premature infants as well as children with brain injuries, brain malformations and genetic syndromes that are identified in the neonatal period.