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We know that a NICU stay makes for a difficult postpartum period, but what are the profound and long-lasting effects from this experience? In today\u2019s show, we\u2019re taking a close look at the experience of parents AND babies who go through a stay in the NICU. My guest brings a wealth of information based on her personal and professional experience.\nDr. Mara Stein is a clinical psychologist in private practice who specializes in the emotional aspects of coping with crisis around pregnancy, parenting and medical crisis, child development, and relationship-based developmentally-supportive care to babies and their families. She\u2019s a Certified EMDR therapist, EMDRIA Approved Consultant, and an EMDRIA Approved Trainer for the Insitute for Creative Mindfulness. She\u2019s certified in other modalities, like Emotion-Focused Family and Couple Therapy, is a Gottman Certified Therapist, and continues to pursue training in Clinical Hypnosis and Ego-State therapies. She brings a wealth of clinical expertise and insight along with all she has learned interviewing families around the world for her two books, her EMDR Basic Trainings, and her advanced practice workshops. All of this is grounded in her personal experience and perinatal journey, which began 25 years ago and took her through infertility, twin pregnancy, prolonged hospital bedrest, the NICU, and nearly 23 years of raising NICU graduates. We\u2019re diving into the babies\u2019 experience in the NICU and the interplay that may occur with their parents.\n\xa0\nShow Highlights:\n\nHow Mara\u2019s specialty came about from her personal journey when she realized that resources were lacking in this area for parents\u2019 emotional needs\n\nHow she found a worldwide online support group for parents of preemies, which became the foundation of her work\n\nHow she became passionate about writing and teaching about perinatal trauma\n\nHer EMDR work and training over the last 16 years\n\nThe range of conditions and ages of NICU babies\n\nHow NICU departments vary around the world in how they operate\n\nFactors that interrupt a baby\u2019s natural pattern in traditional NICU, with the environment, lights, sounds, etc.\n\nThe long-term effects of a NICU stay\n\nThe sensory mismatch for babies, with sounds, lights, and interruptions\n\nHow a developmentally-supportive NICU differs from traditional NICU\n\nWhy moms feel like they need to \u201cstay out of the way\u201d\n\nHow parent feel disoriented in many ways\n\nHow overstimulation and stress affect a NICU baby\n\nHow parents navigate their connection to their baby\n\nWhy it\u2019s hard to attune to a NICU baby, and a parent\u2019s hesitation may be misinterpreted as lack of attachment\n\nThe first time Mara felt like her NICU baby\u2019s mother\n\nThe mental health of parents, and how they can work through and heal\n\nWhy parents ask, \u201cWho is like me?\u201d and \u201cWhere are the others?\u201d\n\nTransitions and processes for parents\n\nThe healing, so parents see themselves as whole human beings\n\nWhy parents need to see the combination of disarray and competence\n\nThe necessity of developmentally-supportive help to parents to see their baby as whole\n\nThe empowering message to parents to nourish them and help them recover and develop\n\nWhy the post-traumatic moments and grief do NOT invalidate your experiences as a NICU parent\n\n\xa0\nResources:\nwww.docmara.com\nParenting Your Premature Baby and Child: The Emotional Journey by Deborah L. Davis, Ph.D. and Mara Tesler Stein, Psy.D.\nIntensive Parenting: Surviving the Emotional Journey through the NICU by Deborah L. Davis, Ph.D and Mara Tesler Stein, PsyD\nwww.parentsondemand.com\xa0\nwww.specialneedsfamilyhour.com\xa0The Welcome to Holland Essay