BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Tech out of the University of Vermont Medical Center is helping babies suffering from drug exposure get a better night’s sleep.
Vermont’s opioid overdoses increased almost 500% in the last ten years.
UVMMC sees the fallout of addiction right down to newborns going through withdrawal. Now, a new initiative could make their first moments a little more comfortable.
As a newborn, Jessica Vintinner’s foster son struggled to sleep through the night.
He suffered from Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome – or NAS – drug exposure in the womb that causes infant irritability, excessive crying, seizures, and a host of sleep issues.
Then, Vintinner discovered smart bassinets.
“When he would cry or cry out in an uncomfortable way, the bassinet would start to move back and forth gently to kind of soothe him and provide a little bit of comfort,” she said.
SNOO smart sleepers created by the company Happiest Baby use sensors to detect a baby’s discomfort, prevent rollover, and soothe the baby with rocking and sound.
Caretakers can digitally control settings and track the baby’s sleep.
Eager to spread the word, Vintinner told her foster son’s UVMMC NICU nurse Melinda Pariser-Schmidt about the tech.
“I started doing some digging,” said Pariser-Schmidt.
The hospital got its first SNOO bassinet in 2020. Now, they’re up to 5. They say the bassinets shorten NICU stays and improve sleep scores.
Plus nurses report saving up to 2 hours per shift they would otherwise spend soothing babies, which gives them more time to tend to other patients.
“The first thing that we do now is get the bed and get all the pieces needed to make it operate. It’s changed our practice,” said Pariser-Schmidt.
As Vermont’s opioid epidemic rages on, Pariser-Schmidt believes tech like this is critical.
“I don’t expect, unfortunately, that there will be fewer incidents of exposure to substances…Which is sad. But all we can do is sort of support these families and support these babies as best as we can,” she said.
Vintinner says her foster son is safe and thriving today, in no small part thanks to his smart bassinet.
“This is incredible that it’s a come circle like this. I can’t wait to tell him about, you know, everything when he gets older,” said Vintinner.
Pariser-Schmidt points out that SNOOs are a powerful resource for any infant under six months old struggling with sleep.
