Donation helps premature babies

Story ran in the weekly and again in the Metro section.

Mothers and fathers of premature babies in south Fort Myers are going to be better served at The Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida.

The hospital, which is located on Bass Road at HealthPark, recently received funds to build an additional six beds in its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

The donation came from Shelley and Jack Blais , who are longtime donors of the hospital. They secured nearly $3.6 million through the annual Boston Red Sox Celebrity Classic and Diamond Dinner events in years 2006, 2007 and 2008.

“Six more beds means we will have room for six more babies in the intensive care unit,” said Michelle Vadel, the director of the unit. “If a baby is born and we don’t have room, they have to be sent to another hospital and city.”

That is difficult, Vadel said, because many times the babies are sent off and moms are still in the hospital and dad is taking care of the other siblings or driving up to see the baby.

“This ensures that they’ll be able to stay here and they don’t have to figure out how to balance everything,” Vadel said about the beds that have been in the works for years.

The Blaises made the new beds possible by committing to match every dollar raised by the Boston Red Sox. The new area of the hospital was recently named after the Blaises in a dedication ceremony.

“They target their money toward centers that strive for excellence and are forward thinking and researching ways to do things better,” Vadel said.

And forward thinking is exactly what was needed in the planning stages of the area that will house the new beds.

“Each bed is designed with the developmental process of each individual child in mind,” said Karen Krieger, the hospital’s spokeswoman.

The developmental aspects of a babies brain begin after birth and the new beds take sound, light and environment into account.

“We know that light and sound and the way we position the baby very much affect the development of the brain, vision and sight,” said Vadel adding that the new room has special acoustic ceiling tiles, floors and glass. “Everything is geared toward protecting that very fragile brain.”