In this episode of the Chez NENEN podcast, Dr. Jess Daigle, a NICU Hospitalist, shares her journey into medicine, the challenges of parenting preterm babies, and the importance of compassion in healthcare. She discusses her personal postpartum experiences, including loss, and how they have shaped her approach to supporting families in the NICU. Dr. Jess emphasizes the need for strong support systems for postpartum families transitioning from the NICU to home and her future aspirations to create a community for NICU families. Our conversation highlights the significance of language and communication in healthcare, as well as balance between one’s professional and personal life.

Key themes and insights from this conversation include:

• The Journey to Neonatology and Personal Experience: Dr. Daigle's path to becoming a neonatologist was deeply influenced by reading "A Long Dying of Baby Andrew" at age 10 and her early love for babies. Her personal experiences with pregnancy loss (miscarriage at 19 weeks) and the preterm births of her son (31 weeks) and daughter (36 weeks) profoundly shaped her approach to patient care, moving beyond textbook knowledge to a lived understanding of NICU families' challenges.

• Holistic Patient Care and Empathy: Dr. Daigle emphasizes a holistic approach to healthcare, extending care beyond the baby to the entire family unit. She believes in understanding the emotional and psychological struggles parents face, particularly during and after a NICU stay. She actively practices empathy, curiosity, and intentional communication, asking "What happened to them?" instead of "What's wrong with them?" to uncover root causes and provide genuine support.

• Addressing Gaps in Postpartum and NICU Support: A significant theme is the lack of adequate support for families transitioning home from the NICU. Dr. Daigle highlights the anxiety, feeding issues, developmental concerns, and childcare challenges that often arise. She is passionate about preparing families for these realities, providing education, and connecting them with resources to foster a sense of control and reduce feelings of isolation.

• Work-Life Synergy and Building a Village: Dr. Daigle advocates for "synergy" over "balance" in managing her multiple roles as a physician, wife, and mother. This involves constantly reassessing priorities, open communication with her husband, and building a strong support system ("village") of family and caregivers. She also emphasizes the importance of self-reflection and adjusting commitments to align with shifting personal and family needs.

• Future Initiatives and Advocacy: Dr. Daigle is actively working to improve NICU family support through her "Tiny Steps NICU Grad Care" direct specialty practice, which aims to provide ongoing developmental, feeding, and psychosocial support for NICU graduates and their families. She also uses her social media platforms (Mom and Me_MD on Instagram and LinkedIn) to educate and advocate for humanism and compassion in medicine, and will be a keynote speaker at the Once Upon a Preemie Conference in November.