NICU Gifts Ideas and Acts of Kindness

If you have a friend or loved one who is currently a NICU Parent, you may be wondering, how can I help them? What gift will be useful for them at this time? Well, we have your back and can offer some amazing suggestions!

On our 57th podcast, Supporting NICU Families: Gift Ideas and Acts of Kindness we covered specific, useful gifts, gift cards, and acts of kindness that will go a long way to help a NICU family.

Listen Now!

We reached out to parents who have navigated the NICU journey themselves to uncover the most impactful gestures and gifts they received during that challenging time. Their responses yielded a treasure trove of invaluable suggestions and practical tips on how to effectively support the NICU parents in your life.

During the podcast episode, we highlighted some of the most meaningful gifts received by NICU parents. However, the sheer volume of suggestions was so vast that we couldn’t explore them all. Recognizing their value, we’ve compiled a comprehensive document featuring all the insights straight from former NICU parents. This resource promises to be incredibly beneficial for you!

We’ve also taken deliberate steps to develop some practical NICU gifts following our own journey. Consider gifting our NICU Journal, Our NICU Roadmap, the NICU Milestone Cards, or NICU hats to parents. These items offer invaluable tools for documenting their infant’s NICU journey and celebrating every remarkable milestone along the way.

NICU Gifts

Remember, NICU parents are navigating uncharted territory, often feeling overwhelmed with worry and uncertainty. While they may not always articulate their needs, your proactive support and understanding can offer immense comfort and relief.

Whether it’s providing a listening ear, organizing practical help with everyday tasks, or offering thoughtful gifts tailored to their needs, your efforts contribute to a network of support that surrounds these families with love and compassion.

By empowering yourself with practical insights and heartfelt gestures, you will become instrumental in lightening the load for NICU parents, allowing them to focus on what truly matters—nurturing and caring for their precious little one in the NICU.

The Presence Study Toolkit: Helping NICUs Translate Evidence into Practice – Empowering NICU Parents' Podcast

The Presence Study Toolkit is here—and it's more than a resource. It's a roadmap for transforming family-centered care in the NICU.In this episode of the Empowering NICU Parents Podcast, Nicole Nyberg is joined by Fabiana Bacchini, Executive Director of the Canadian Premature Babies Foundation and internationally recognized family advocate, to share the remarkable story behind the Presence Study Toolkit.Together, they discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic inspired the groundbreaking Presence Study, why its findings remain just as relevant today, and how a collaborative team of clinicians, researchers, and parent advocates transformed those recommendations into a practical implementation guide for NICUs around the world.As two of the lead authors of the toolkit, Nicole and Fabiana take listeners behind the scenes of its development, sharing the passion, purpose, and collaboration that brought it to life. They also explore simple, practical ways NICUs can begin implementing meaningful change—one chapter, one recommendation, and one small step at a time.Whether you're a NICU parent, nurse, physician, therapist, educator, quality improvement leader, or hospital administrator, this conversation will inspire you to rethink what family-centered care truly means and how small changes can have a lasting impact on babies and families.In this episode, you'll learn:• The story behind the Presence Study and why it still matters today.• How the Presence Study Toolkit bridges the gap between research and practice.• Why parents are essential caregivers—not visitors.• Practical ways to begin creating meaningful, sustainable culture change in your NICU.• The importance of remembering the why behind family-centered care.🎧 Download the free Presence Study Toolkit on the Family-Centered Care Task Force website using the link in the show notes, and join us in helping create a future where every NICU family is informed, involved, and supported.Dr. Brown’s Medical: https://www.drbrownsmedical.com The Infant-Driven Feeding™ (IDF) Program: https://www.infantdrivenfeeding.com/ Our NICU Roadmap: A Comprehensive NICU Journal: https://empoweringnicuparents.com/nicujournal/ NICU Mama Hats: https://empoweringnicuparents.com/hats/ NICU Milestone Cards: https://empoweringnicuparents.com/nicuproducts/ Newborn Holiday Cards: https://empoweringnicuparents.com/shop/ Empowering NICU Parents Show Notes: https://empoweringnicuparents.com/shownotes/ Episode 81 Show Notes: https://empoweringnicuparents.com/episode81 Empowering NICU Parents Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/empoweringnicuparents/ Empowering NICU Parents FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/empoweringnicuparents Pinterest Page: https://pin.it/36MJjmHThank you for listening to the Empowering NICU Parents Podcast. Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review—it helps other families find us. We’re grateful to be part of this incredible community. Visit www.empoweringnicuparents.com for resources and support.

@empoweringnicuparents

Nicole Nyberg

Empowering NICU Parents
-NICU Mom & NNP
-Podcast Host, Public Speaker
-Educate & Empower NICU parents & clinicians empoweringnicuparents@yahoo.com

Happy 4th of July!!! 🎆

Thank you to the care team members who are working over the holiday weekend.

To all the NICU and pediatric families who are spending their holiday in the hospital…we are thinking of you. ❤️🤍💙

#4thofjuly🇺🇸🇺🇸 #america250 #independenceday #nicuparents #nicunurse

What does it take to create meaningful, lasting change in the NICU?

The answer isn’t just more research. It’s turning research into action.

In this episode of the Empowering NICU Parents Podcast, I’m honored to welcome my friend and colleague, Fabiana Bacchini, Executive Director of the Canadian Premature Babies Foundation and one of the world’s leading voices in family partnership and family-centered neonatal care.

Together, we share the story behind the Presence Study Toolkit—how the groundbreaking Presence Study evolved into a practical implementation guide that helps NICUs translate research into meaningful, sustainable practice change.

It was an incredible privilege to serve alongside Fabiana as one of the lead authors of this toolkit, working with an extraordinary team of clinicians, researchers, parent advocates, and healthcare leaders who shared one vision: helping NICUs move from evidence to action.

One of the most important messages from this episode is simple:
Parents are not visitors. They are essential caregivers.

And meaningful change doesn’t happen all at once.

Start with one chapter. One recommendation. One small change.

Because small changes, rooted in purpose and guided by the why, have the power to transform the NICU experience for generations of babies and families.

🎧 Listen to the episode and download the FREE Presence Study Toolkit from the Family-Centered Care Task Force website (link in my bio/comments).

Thank you to AngelEye Health for sponsoring the development of the toolkit and for their ongoing commitment to family-centered care and to ensuring NICU families are informed, involved, and supported.

Together, we can create a better NICU experience for every babyand every family.

#nicubaby #nicunurse #nicuparents #nicumom #familycentered

Calling all current and former NICU parents!

Your experience can help improve how educational information is shared with NICU families.

We’re looking to better understand how much information is most helpful, when parents prefer to receive it, and how to make education more personalized without becoming overwhelming.

The survey takes just 3 minutes to complete, and as a thank you, you’ll have the chance to win one of four $25 Amazon gift cards!

Please take a moment to complete the survey and help improve the experience for future NICU families.

Scan the QR code to take the Survey!

Thank you for helping us make a difference, one family at a time.

#nicubaby #nicuparent #nicujourney #nicumom #nicugrad

To the dads who stood beside a NICU bed, held onto hope, and loved fiercely through every challenge—

Happy Father’s Day.

Your strength, presence, and unwavering love have made a lasting difference in your child’s story. 💙

#fathersday #fatherslove #nicudad #nicuparents #nicujourney

The Presence Study Toolkit is now available as a FREE resource on the Family-Centered Care Task Force website. 🤍

As a primary author and Co-Advocacy Chair for the Family-Centered Care Taskforce, I am incredibly honored to have helped bring this meaningful project to life alongside such an inspiring group of contributors.

Created through an extraordinary collaboration of 23 expert authors, this toolkit was designed to help NICU leaders, care teams, and families adopt a more family-centered approach to care grounded in 13 evidence-based recommendations from the Presence Study.

Proudly sponsored by AngelEye Health, this work reflects a shared commitment to supporting families, strengthening parental presence, and advancing family-centered NICU care.

What makes this toolkit especially meaningful is that every chapter was intentionally co-developed by both family and healthcare partners.

Family advocates, clinicians, researchers, healthcare leaders, and parents came together to ensure the content reflects not only clinical realities, but also the lived experiences of families navigating the NICU journey.

Because parental presence is not extra care.

Presence is care.

This toolkit is more than a resource. It is a call to continue building NICU environments where families are informed, supported, included, and empowered as essential members of the care team.

I am deeply grateful to every author, contributor, family partner, and leader who helped make this possible. I truly believe this work has the power to create meaningful change for NICU families and clinicians across the world.

Download the FREE Presence Study Toolkit on the FCC Taskforce website and help foster parental presence as an essential part of everyday NICU care. 🤍#nicuparents #familycenteredcare #nicunurse #nicubaby #nicucare

I’m incredibly proud of the launch of the Presence Study Toolkit by the Family-Centered Care Taskforce. 💙

As the FCC Taskforce Co-Chair of Advocacy, it was truly an honor to serve as one of the primary authors of this resource and to see it come to fruition after months of collaboration and dedication from an incredible team of clinicians, researchers, and parent partners.

This work is especially meaningful to me because it helps translate evidence into action—providing practical, evidence-based strategies to support parental presence, engagement, and true partnership in the NICU.

At its heart is a message I deeply believe in: parents are not visitors, they are essential caregivers.

The toolkit translates the evidence-based recommendations from the Presence Study into practical strategies that NICUs can use to strengthen family-centered care and parental engagement.

Whether you’re a NICU clinician, leader, advocate, or parent, this free resource is packed with valuable insights and actionable tools.

If you haven’t downloaded it yet, I encourage you to take a look and share it with others who are passionate about improving the NICU experience for babies and families.#nicuparents #nicubaby #nicunurse #empoweringnicuparents #nicumom

Stillness is strength. 💚

In the NICU, some of the most powerful moments happen in the quiet.

A parent holding their baby skin-to-skin.

Tiny fingers wrapped around a parent’s finger.

Hearts regulating together.

Slow, quiet breaths.

Safety being felt.

That is the power of kangaroo care.

These are not small moments.
They are monumental moments that help shape the foundation of an infant’s future — supporting bonding, brain development, regulation, healing, and connection.

Today on International Kangaroo Care Awareness Day, we celebrate the beauty and importance of skin-to-skin care for babies and families everywhere.

Join the movement: Share your skin-to-skin photo. Promote kangaroo care. 💚
Advocate for parental presence and connection in the NICU — today and every day.

#kangaroocare #nicuparents #nicunurse #nicubaby #nicumom

What happens in the NICU follows our children home.

There are hundreds of moments during a NICU stay— moments that feel routine… moments that feel small… and even moments where I didn’t like what I saw, but felt hesitant to speak up—as both a clinician and a parent in my own NICU.

And over time, I’ve seen how those moments have shown up in my son.

That’s the part we don’t always talk about.

In this episode, I share both the science and the lived experience behind how NICU care shapes brain development, behavior, and long-term outcomes—and more importantly, what we can do about it.

We also walk through tangible, practical ways to support neuroprotective, developmentally appropriate, family-centered care.

Because the goal isn’t just survival.

It’s how we help these children live beyond it.

Whether you are a NICU parent or a clinician—this one matters.

🎧 Link in bio

#nicuparents #nicunurse #nicupodcast #nicugrad #nicubaby

Happy Mother’s Day.

There are mothers to children they have given birth to.
 There are mothers who may not be considered biological, but cannot fathom life without their children in it.
 There are mothers who stepped into motherhood through marriage and love.
 There are mothers who never had the opportunity to meet their child because they left this world too soon.
 There are mothers who have had to bear the unimaginable and somehow learn to move forward without their child beside them anymore.
 There are mothers who dream of being mothers, but have not yet had that opportunity—or may never experience it in the way they once hoped.

Motherhood comes in so many different forms. It does not take pregnancy or birth to be a mother, but it does take a strong, resilient, compassionate, patient, and incredible woman. And I am blessed to know so many.

To the NICU mamas, the bereaved mamas, the waiting mamas, the foster and adoptive mamas, the bonus mamas, and the women carrying a mother’s love in their hearts in ways the world may never fully see—you are seen, you are valued, and you are fiercely loved. 🤍

#mothersday #motherslove❤️ #mothersheart #nicumom #bereavedmother

The Presence Study Toolkit: Helping NICUs Translate Evidence into Practice – Empowering NICU Parents' Podcast

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Nicole Nyberg

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