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Overlooked & Underrated Docs & Features
Get out your handkerchiefs. Produced and directed by San Francisco Bay Area writer/actress/teacher Candace Campbell, “Micropremature Babies” introduces us to the world of premature births, as of circa 2003. Campbell interviews mothers, parents and healthcare professionals about their experience of taking care of newborns, starting with those born after 24 weeks of gestation.
Yes, you’ll need those handkerchiefs. The parents relate the rainbow of emotions that arise in response to pre-term birth – the pain, fear, anger, and joy. We learn about survival rates – starting with the 24 week birth and increasing with every additional week of gestation – and the health risks and challenges survivors and their caregivers face. We learn about the improvements in technology that enable improving survival rates. And we see happy, loving children who would not be here had it not been for that technology and for…well…., obviously there are countless parameters that effect both survival rates and the subsequent health of survivors. One of the social workers interviewed commented to the effect that, in her opinion, the most significant factor in survival and optimum health has to do with the environment the child finds at home. One of the physicians interviewed seconded that thought. The message is clear, loving care makes the biggest difference which, of course, applies to all children.
D. Schwartz October 21, 2010
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from Advances in Neonatal Care-10(2):100-102, April 2010. 
doi: 10.1097/ANC.0b013e3181d5c393
Video Review- Micropremature Babies- How Low Can You Go?
by Deborah Volat, BSN, CNM
Intimate and candid, the video Micropremature Babies—How Low Can You Go? created, directed, and produced by NICU nurse Candy Campbell brings parents and healthcare providers inside the anguish and triumph experienced by many families of extremely premature and very low birth-weight (1500 g) babies. The audience gains some perspective into what is personally involved in sustaining lives that would not endure without technological assistance. The film shows parents who were grateful for the technology, and others who felt their hopes for a
“normal” child had been deflated. Always, it seemed,these parents were fighting for tentative outcomes and were forced to redefine their expectations.
The human instinct to protect and nurture is underscored as the film follows several families who recount fighting for survival of their little ones. We can all share, on some level, the urgency and desire to persist through the shock and fear, sacrificing, praying, and the urge to do everything to hold longer the littlelife these parents have promised to protect. In spite of anger, feeling doubt, guilt, and “beat down,” these“ parents tell of their vigilance through the tremendous crisis of a premature birth. New for modern parents is the multitude of medical options and related consequences that must often be managed for the lifetime of the child. Initially, some of the featured parents are still expecting their child to be “fixed.” But whether cerebral palsy, blindness, or simply delayed speech, there are inevitable hurdles that this film can aid parents of premature babies to navigate.
In the film, we hear from doctors, social workers, and nurses who work with these families. Neonatologists from renowned medical centers, such as Alta Bates in Berkeley and the University of California San Francisco, give light to the medical
realities. Like parents, they are persistent but not always as optimistic. One neonatologist reminds us to recognize the spiritual nature of the relationships we
have to these fragile lives. Another encourages parents to ask their physicians specific questions about the problems their babies will have, the first hint into
the realities of families not interviewed or shown. A social worker discusses that technology can only bring these babies so far. It is the environment that often makes all the difference for these children, she asserts. Does every child who receives life-saving interventions receive the same care in the months and years following their birth? The video did not address this, and I was left wondering.
I was left with other questions as well.
This video is an excellent source for parents to find hope in shared experiences. By watching this film, parents new to dealing with prematurity could encounter a little less fear in the whirlwind of decisions and procedures. Hearing that at least one family struggled to bond through the tangle of wires and tubes, or another mother suffered by not being able to hold the child separated from her womb too soon, or a couple felt confusion arriving home with no child in arms, new parents could anticipate and perhaps better weather the journey of assisting their premature infants to their best possible future.
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from Neonatal Network, Sept-Oct. 2009, Vol 28 (5)
Reviewed by:
Amanda N. Ranft, MSN, ARNP, RNC-NIC
This touching video chronicles the NICU journey of
micropremature babies (from the parents’ perspective) as they
struggle to survive and thrive from birth to discharge and
beyond. Filmed in the early 2000′s, there are some outdated
developmental care practices and equipment, however, it
does not detract from the information provided. This video is essential for any professional health care provider who is new to the field of neonatology. It is appropriate for novice physicians, nurses, social workers, rehabilitation specialists, and other staff who will be charged with the care and support of micropreemies and their families.
Follow the journey of five families as they discuss multiple hurdles they overcame as a family unit while their micropreemies were cared for in the NICU. Mothers freely discuss how the signs and symptoms of premature labor differ significantly
from labor at full term, and neonatologists provide insight into the possible causes for the onset of premature labor. The mothers also describe common treatments for the cessation of premature labor and their significant side effects.
Candid discussions are held regarding the emotions felt by parents as they realized they were facing the premature delivery of their children. Overwhelming shock, guilt, anger, fear, and blame were common themes among the mothers.
Fathers struggled with the possibility of losing not only their child, but also their life partner. As the imminent delivery occurs, parents speak to the despair of not being able to immediately see or hold their newborn infants. They go on to describe the initial shock felt upon entering the NICU environment and seeing their tiny children with many tubes protruding from their bodies.
Parents then discuss issues regarding fear for the children’s survival and candidly admit there are times they detached from, or did not bond with, their children as a means of self preservation. Additionally, parents voice concerns regarding
the stress and strain the premature delivery placed on their marriages and the feeling of despair when returning to their “empty” home.
Once the babies have persevered through the NICU stay, challenges present in the discharge home and continued follow-up care for micropreemies. Parents speak to feelings of concern when others are not able to relate to their special babies and celebrate their unique successes. Mothers also admit feeling a twinge of jealousy toward others for having had healthy babies. Parents discuss their emotions when coming to terms with the fact that NICU graduates have unique needs for follow-up, home equipment, and training, the potential for multiple hospital readmissions throughout early childhood, and delayed developmental milestones with which
they need to cope.
In addition to the gripping stories of the families, neonatal staff also provide a historical perspective on the advances in the field of neonatology that have contributed to the survival of much smaller, earlier infants. Statistical data on long-term survival rates are also presented. The ethical dilemmas presented
by delivery of micropreemies and advances in fertility treatments, such as multiple implantation to “guarantee” success, are also discussed.
Join these NICU graduates, families, and staff as they chronicle their unique journeys. Struggle with the families and their children as they turn tragedy into triumph.
