There is a special space for new parents in the Rush University Medical Center Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Every Friday, breastfeeding peer counselors host a pop-up Milk Café. This peer-to-peer support group is a time for parents while their baby is or babies are cared for in the NICU.
Having a child in the NICU can be an incredibly exhausting and emotional experience. The Milk Café offers respite for parents, and provides a space where they can learn, bond and have their questions answered by experienced parent-peer counselors.
The Café provides a space for new mothers to express breast milk for their babies while they receive education, support and guidance. Parents receive warm beverages and a nutritious lunch. Soft music plays, and colored pencils and markers are spread across the table, encouraging relaxation and expression through art.
Upon arrival, parents meet each other and learn about the health benefits of breastfeeding for their babies. It does not take long for cross-sharing to begin about their birth experiences and discussing how their babies are gaining weight and developing. The breastfeeding peer counselors share their previous journeys and provide breastfeeding/breast-pumping education while spreading hope and inspiration for overcoming the current challenges of breastfeeding and all the hurdles that come with having a hospitalized infant.
Feedback from NICU Café participants is overwhelmingly positive. The café provides a safe, nonjudgmental environment for learning, expressing feelings, drawing, laughing, crying and developing enduring friendships with other parents with whom they now share a significant life experience.