As we (Martha and Paul Sharkey) reflect on our family’s personal journey with our premature daughters, we wish we had known about different resources that were available to help us through the NICU experience. We hoped we were asking the right questions to the nurses and doctors. We should have reached out to the social worker at the hospital for more assistance.

Ann Coyle understands what parents are going through during their NICU journey. She is here today to help us identify those resources and provide some questions families should ask. Ann has been a nurse for 38 years at Virtua hospital in New Jersey. She spent 32 years in the NICU and now works as the Manager of Perinatal Bereavement programs, helping parents in a variety of ways.

On this episode you will hear:

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• The resources that many NICU families don’t know about, and where you can find them.
  
• Many families don’t realize they should ask their nurse or social worker in the NICU for help, we discuss where you can go for more information.
  
• Some of the questions you should ask, that you may not think of.
  
• The apps that might help you during your NICU stay.
  
• Advice for families entering the NICU.
  
• How you can overcome the challenge of introducing yourself to the NICU staff and how you can make a connection with other families in the NICU.
  
• Ann's advice for families experiencing loss.
  
• The story that sticks out to Ann as a lesson she learned from a family in the NICU.
  

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