Sibling Visitation Policy

Dear Parent:

Brothers and sisters are invited and encouraged to visit in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Newborn Nurseries when accompanied by at least one parent. When an infant is hospitalized, family routines are often disrupted and each family member is affected. We encourage you to involve your baby’s brothers and sisters by offering information about your baby and allowing siblings to be a part of family visits with your baby. In addition to restoring family togetherness, visitation allows siblings to become acquainted with their newborn brother or sister.

We ask that you let us know ahead of time when you are planning on bringing your baby’s siblings in to visit. This allows the nurse to review the health screening information with you before the visit, and also plan on spending time with you and your baby’s siblings during the visit.

In order to prevent infection in your baby and others in the nursery, a health screening questionnaire will be completed on each sibling just prior to visiting their baby brother or sister. Any signs or symptoms of illness or exposure to disease (such as colds, flu, diarrhea or chicken pox) will prevent sibling visitation at that time. In addition, the nurseries may need to limit sibling visitation during outbreaks of diseases in the community.

Please speak to your baby’s nurse or the social worker if you have questions about sibling visitation or your children’s adjustment to having your baby in the hospital.

Sincerely,

The Nursery Staff