Neonatal Intensive Care Transcript
Neonatal Intensive Care – S. Sreepathi, MD
Announcer: We go now to our reporter, Lora Windsor, who has more on Valley Presbyterian Hospital’s NIC Unit.
Visual: Announcer is a male in a suit. He is at a news desk in front of a blue background with the title “American Health Journal” over a swirling globe.
Reporter Lora Windsor: Childbirth is such an exciting time for the parents but when a baby is born too soon, too small, or with complications, where do they go to get the best possible treatment?
Visuals: The female reporter is in a suit and introduced with the title “Lora Windsor – American Health Journal” in lower-third. In the background are rows of TV monitors playing various medical videos. The largest monitor has the title “Newborn Intensive Care Unit” and includes a male nurse holding a newborn baby; the baby being placed in a NICU incubator; close-up of the baby.
Reporter (V.O.): A Neonatal Intensive Care Unit specializes in the care of ill or premature newborn infants. We spoke to Dr. Sukshma Sreepathi at Valley Presbyterian Hospital who gives us more information on their new Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
V.O. visuals: Camera sweeps wide to show several incubators and healthcare workers attending to newborns in the Valley Presbyterian Hospital NICU; Dr. Sukshma Sreepathi in her office talking on the phone; exterior of Valley Presbyterian Hospital; Dr. Sreepathi walking up exterior stairs toward entrance of hospital.
Sukshma Sreepathi, MD: We take care of all kinds of babies with problems. It starts from extreme prematurity. Right now we have a baby who weighed one pound and half ounce at birth and is doing reasonably well.
Visuals: Close-up of Sreepathi in a white coat being interviewed in a studio with foliage and a purple wall in the background. She is introduced with the title “Sukshma Sreepathi, MD – Valley Presbyterian Hospital” in the lower-third.
Sreepathi (V.O.): We take care of big babies that have problems.
V.O. visual: Sreepathi in NICU talking with a nurse.
Sreepathi: We do have our own transport team which picks up the babies…
Sreepathi (V.O.): …who need a higher level of care from the surrounding hospitals. We have multi-disciplinary team involved with the care of the baby, which includes a neonatologist who is specifically and specially trained to take care of small and intensive care babies.
V.O. visual: Exterior of Valley Presbyterian Hospital’s main entrance; close-up of a nurse’s hands holding a feeding tube inside an incubator with a premature baby; close-up of Sreepathi talking with female nurse in the NICU;
Sreepathi: And a team of nurses. We have a team of respiratory therapists. We have occupational and physical therapists. We have a nutritionist.
Sreepathi (V.O.): We have the pharmacist’s help for medications and we have a social worker to look at the family needs because it puts a lot of burden when you have a sick baby in the Intensive Care Unit. Our average length of stay for any baby that comes in…
V.O. visuals: A woman draped in a special protective garment feeding a tiny baby in her lap with a bottle; close up of a woman’s hand holding the tiny hand of a baby in an incubator; monitor screen with baby’s heart beat and other vital signs; Sreepathi writing on a patient’s chart in her office.
Sreepathi: …is about fifteen to sixteen days. But a very small baby who is one pound can stay as long as three months.
Sreepathi (V.O.): If we know that there is a mother that is admitted with a high-risk pregnancy we are made aware…
V.O. visual: Sreepathi talking with nurse in the NICU.
Sreepathi: …by the obstetrician of that patient and we go in and talk to them and explain to them…
Sreepathi (V.O.): …what are the general problems and what are the general treatments, modalities, and general procedures done in the Intensive Care setting and answer their questions and prepare them.
V.O. visual: Sreepathi continues to write in a patient’s chart and picks up the phone to make a call; shot of the NICU with a focus on an incubator and all the required equipment and monitors surrounding it.
Sreepathi: There are times when they come through the maternity room and they deliver in ten minutes and that’s when it’s a surprise but we always have a team which consists of a nurse and a respiratory therapist to begin the care and we are available within twenty minutes from the hospital and we come and take care of the babies as needed. And we are a group of four plus neonatologists who rotate through the unit, in the Intensive Care nursery…
Sreepathi (V.O.): …to take care of these babies.
V.O. visual: Baby sleeping inside an incubator in the NICU.
Reporter (V.O.): How has technology changed in the past twenty-five years in Neonatology?
V.O. visual: Close-up of monitoring devices in the NICU.
Sreepathi: There is a lot of growth and development in the way that we take care of the babies. There is more understanding of the babies needs, physiology, nutritional needs, and there are better breathing machines, ventilators, and different modalities.
Sreepathi (V.O.): And there has been a great change since I have been trained to take care of these babies. It’s nice…
V.O. visual: Sreepathi walking through the lobby of the hospital.
Sreepathi: …when you go to the area schools or when you go out wherever you run into parents that know you and come and talk to you and they thank you for what you have done for their children and that’s really very rewarding.
Visual: Srrepathi being interviewed in the studio.
Reporter: A new Neonatal Intensive Care Unit combines advanced technology and trained health care professionals to provide specialized care for the tiniest patients. For the American Health Journal, I’m Lora Windsor.
Visual: Reporter in studio with rows of TV monitors in background playing various medical videos. The largest monitor displays clips of Sreepathi and the nurse talking in the NICU, followed by the title “American Health Journal.”
