Dr. Zipora Strauss Works to Deliver Healthy Babies and Establish the Physical and Emotional Connection Between the Baby and its Parents
If you want to see "Wonder Women" in action, just spend an hour in the Albert Katz Department of Neonatology at Sheba Medical Center. Amidst a whir of various beeping monitors and other medical devices, Dr. Zipora Strauss, the Director of Neonatology, works feverishly with her talented staff of nurses and doctors to keep pace in dealing with various health challenges faced by premature babies and their concerned parents.
Sheba's Neonatology division (which is part of the Josef Buchmann Gynecology and Maternity Center) is one of the largest neonatal centers in Israel. It also boasts a new, cutting-edge intensive care unit for full term infants with major congenital malformations. On average, 11,000 newborn infants are delivered annually at Sheba (over 30 births per day). According to Dr. Strauss, 10% of the newborn infants will need extra attention, from preemies to those born with congenital defects.
"It is a demanding job for all of us, doctors, nurses etc. In fact, compared to neonatal units in the USA, no one works as hard as our staff does during the 12 month cycle, especially when it comes to bedside medical attention. In the USA, a doctor will do a 2-3 month bedside rotation and then spend the rest of the year doing research. Unlike the USA, Israel does not have neonatal mentors to assist doctors and nurses, so it's an extra demanding job," revealed Dr. Strauss.
When it comes to premature babies, Dr. Strauss' attention is actually focused on the mental health of the new parents. A critical factor that you don't hear or read much about. "Our job is not just to deliver healthy babies. The physical and emotional connection between the baby and its parents will affect everyone for the rest of their lives," claimed Dr. Strauss. "Especially in cases where there is a premature baby involved, we have found that most parents are totally disconnected when it comes to an unexpected delivery. This disconnection actually can affect the development of the brain in premature and even healthy babies. If the baby is not being touched and is sensory deprived, the connection between the baby's right and left temporal lobes may not fully develop."
In order to prevent devastating developmental issues, Dr. Strauss and her staff move preemie parents into a separate room, where they learn about skin to skin contact with their baby in order to trigger sensory stimulation (physical bonding).
"There are a rollercoaster of emotions that we are dealing with here on an everyday basis," Dr. Strauss said matter-of-factly. "For many parents, it's a terrifying experience to deal with a premature baby that was not supposed to come into this world a few weeks or a month or two earlier than planned. We are dealing not just with physical interaction with the baby but also how to create a new family. We have to provide all kinds of TLC (tender loving care), whether it's hooking parents up with therapists and a social worker to offering them seminars, where they learn how to give the baby a bath, teach them how to feed and change them etc. You would be surprised how many parents don't have a clue as to how to take care of a newborn."
Dr. Strauss is also at the forefront of using "text technology" to calm and reassure parents that their newborn is doing well. "We are on the verge of publishing the results of research we conducted based on sending virtual text messages from the baby to the parents such as, 'I'm in my room, and I just finished my bottle, gaining weight…' We know it's a relaxing exercise and parents feel a sense of reassurance. Our goal is to find unique ways to establish bonds between the baby and the parents, so they can begin their lives in a positive manner."
With such attention given to both the physical and emotional aspects of care, Dr. Zipora Strauss and her team are creating happy new families every day.
