|
Local Volunteer Sews Isolette Blankets for NICU Newborns at Children’s Hospital of New Jersey at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center Newark, N.J.-- Millstone resident Ruth Bielanski was looking for volunteer opportunities when she discovered Care Wear, a nationwide group of volunteers who knit, crochet or sew handmade baby items that are donated to hospitals. Through the organization, Mrs. Bielanski has created 12 fitted fabric covers for isolettes in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Children’s Hospital of New Jersey (CHNJ) at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. “Ruth has made such an important contribution to our NICU and we greatly appreciate her efforts to help our newborns,” relates Diane Marconi, RNC, Developmental Coordinator of the NICU at CHNJ. “The isolette covers are used to protect sick or premature infants from light and sound as they would be protected in the womb. Overstimulation can affect a baby’s hearing and development and we have a great need for these covers due to our high census. The parents really appreciate these bright and cheerful covers as they help to create a home away from home.” Mrs. Bielanski makes the quilted covers by hand, each one taking about an hour and a half and approximately four yards of fabric to construct. She has used fabrics in green, navy, cranberry and a gingham check in pink and blue, and she purchases all the material herself. In addition to more covers, her next project is fleece hats for insulating tiny newborn heads. She has also made stuffed animals for hospitals to donate to pediatric patients. One of the reasons Mrs. Bielanski, a librarian at the Manville Public Library, was attracted to the project is that her own son, Keith, was born with hydrocephalus, a condition of water and swelling on the brain. Keith has now graduated from high school and is involved in a work study program. “We spent a good deal of time in hospitals for occupational and physical therapy over the years,” she says. “Maybe that had something to do with my choice of a volunteer project.” The other Bielanski children are also drawn to caring for others. Her oldest son, Kevin, teaches special needs children in Arizona, and daughter Karen will graduate this May from Rutgers School of Nursing The art of sewing was passed on by her sisters, and Mrs. Bielanski has made it her lifelong hobby. She enjoys working on projects while she is watching television, putting her time to good use. Care Wear began in 1991 as a personal effort to provide much needed apparel for premature and low birth weight infants undergoing treatment in neonatal intensive care units of several children's hospitals in the Washington, D.C. area. For more information, visit www.carewear.org. For More Information The main phone number for Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, located at 201 Lyons Avenue at Osborne Terrace in Newark, is (973) 926-7000, or visit www.saintbarnabas.com. For physician referral information, call 1-888-SBHS-123. About Newark Beth Israel Medical Center Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, a 673-bed regional care, teaching hospital established in 1901, provides comprehensive health care services to its local communities and is a major referral and treatment center for patients throughout the northern New Jersey metropolitan area. The Medical Center has New Jersey's most comprehensive Robotic Surgery Center; the State's first accredited Sleep Disorders Center; one of the largest electrophysiology programs in New Jersey; kidney transplantation; the largest hospital-based dental program in New Jersey and The Saint Barnabas Heart Center at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, which offers the best in adult and pediatric cardiology services and cardiac surgery programs. The hospital also offers the nationally recognized Pacemaker & Defibrillator Center; Frederick B. Cohen, MD, Comprehensive Cancer and Blood Disorder Center ; The Center for Geriatric Health Care; and a Regional Perinatal Center, offering the highest quality maternity care for both normal and high-risk pregnancies. Newark Beth Israel Medical Center is also home to Children's Hospital of New Jersey, the state's premier children's health facility; Children's Hospital provides state-of-the-art care in nearly 30 pediatric subspecialties. Treating ill and injured children from newborn to adolescent years, Children's Hospital also initiates preventive programs that promote wellness in the community. DATE: March 18 , 2008 CONTACT: Beth Salamon, Public Relations (973) 322-4926 |
|
||||||||||
