Bailey Parette, MBA, BSN, RN, CLC – Clinical Project Manager

Olivia McCracken Jones, BSN, RN – National Clinical Sales Lead – MilkTracker

For parents with a baby in the NICU, time becomes a constant tug-of-war. The desire to stay at the bedside conflicts with the realities of returning to work, caring for other children, or managing responsibilities that can’t be paused. Adding to this struggle are the complexities of the feeding journey for a NICU parent and infant, making it all feel unbearable and adding guilt and anxiety to an already stressful time.

Parents aren’t the only ones impacted. NICU staff work tirelessly to provide excellent care while also supporting families through some of the hardest moments of their lives. The emotional weight parents carry doesn’t disappear when they leave the hospital—it follows them and often manifests in their interactions with staff. This emotional layer can add pressure for teams already navigating high-stakes clinical care.

What families and staff share is the need for connection. Read on to hear one mom’s story and then how technology can support families and staff struggling to win the tug-of-war.

Bailey’s NICU and Feeding Journey

As a certified lactation counselor (CLC), I had expectations on what my breastfeeding journey would look like: holding my newborn in the golden hour post-birth, skin-to-skin with her on my chest. We would be feeding on-demand and at-breast, building a supply and schedule based on her needs. I imagined there could be issues, but ultimately, as a first-time mom, every vision I had of meeting my newborn was tinted with a rosy hue of hope.

However, my rose-colored visions were quickly sidelined for a much harsher reality. At my anatomy scan, we learned my daughter appeared to have severe IUGR. This led to several weeks of intensive outpatient monitoring with my OBGYN and MFM team. I was hospitalized at 32 weeks for cord-flow issues. At 33 weeks, some routine monitoring went un-routinely, and I was rushed to an emergency c-section, which led to a six-week NICU stay for my teeny 2 lb 11 oz daughter.

During the pregnancy, I often set mini-milestones to reach. My goal at 28 weeks was to make it to 30 weeks. My goal at 30 weeks was to make it to 31. By the time I was hospitalized, my goal was always just to make it 24 more hours.

I maintained this practice in our NICU journey by creating mini-milestones for myself and my daughter. It was a way to feel slightly more in control of a situation neither of us controlled. Pumping became one of these milestones. I can still remember asking my postpartum nurse for tiny syringes and a plastic spoon as soon as they wheeled me into my room post-op. I was determined to jumpstart my breastfeeding journey. This was certainly not the journey I planned, but seeing those first drops of colostrum collected in the 1 mL syringe gave me such a feeling of accomplishment.

When I visited the NICU, I would bring my little syringes of liquid gold with me. I would check in with my daughter’s nurse, grab a swab from her bedside, and reach through the porthole of her isolette to do EBM oral care. During pregnancy, I was constantly connected to her. Now, we were separated by several hospital floors, an elevator ride, the NICU’s security doors, a sign-in sheet, and the double-paned plastic walls of this isolette. I wanted to feel connected again. For me, bringing milk to the NICU gave me a piece of that connection back.

Once I was discharged from the hospital, I settled into my new normal. Whenever I would sit down to pump, I would open the AngelEye app, where I could view my baby through the live-stream camera and track my pumping session with the MilkTracker feeding management app. Seeing my daughter safe and warm in her isolette gave me instant relief. It reminded me why I was getting up every three hours and gave me the motivation to keep going.

At the end of each pump session, I would scan my milk into the app. Each time, I felt like it was a tiny victory. I was not physically with my baby, but with every pump session logged and barcode scanned, I had a physical reminder that we were still connected.

Since returning to work with AngelEye, these insights have impacted how I view my work. I now understand the pain of being physically separated from your child and how our technology can help bridge the gap and restore some of that connection. Since being back, I have met with our UX designer and provided insight on features I would have enjoyed while in the NICU. When you are at the bedside, it can feel like your NICU journey is endless. Finding mini-milestones and steps to celebrate along the way makes it more manageable. I know first-hand that having a child in the NICU is a harsh reality, but with the right connections – it is possible to bring some rosiness back to the lives of NICU families.

The Tech Solution

As you just read, having a baby in the NICU brings many challenges, even for NICU healthcare professionals with years of experience, and especially the difficulty of returning to work during this critical time. In 2025, the MilkTracker team is enhancing our feeding management system with features designed to better support families in managing feeding and lactation, providing valuable resources during their NICU stay. AngelEye prioritizes feature development based on the direct feedback and needs of the families and staff. Keep reading for a preview of several upcoming enhancements and how they will allow us to extend our lactation and feeding management support even further to families:

Pumping Reminders and Goals

Research shows us that pumping early and pumping frequently are essential contributing factors to improving milk production, especially when Mom and baby are separated (XXX Diane Spatz Reference). With pumping reminders and goal enhancements, parents will be able to set automated reminders for pumping in the parent application at a frequency based on their daily pumping goals. MilkTracker will also continue to support seamless communication with hospital lactation teams, enabling parents to collaborate with these professionals to establish and adjust their goals as needed through two-way messaging.

Low Inventory Alerts

Mothers work tirelessly to provide milk for their babies and deserve easy access to essential information, such as when to bring in more milk. Currently, in our parent application, parents have visibility of at-home versus at-hospital maternal milk inventory. With low inventory alerts, parents will be able to set their thresholds for low inventory reminders and adjust these based on their baby’s feeding needs as they change over time. This feature helps families stay informed and organized, allowing them to plan their time in the NICU more effectively and reducing unnecessary stress. With both parent and clinical inventory visibility and automated alerts pertaining to inventory status, staff can also reduce time spent managing this.

Self-Service Label Printing

Labels for parents are printed at the hospital and include each infant’s name, patient identifiers, and a unique QR code for labeling expressed breast milk. With self-service label printing, parents can independently print pump/parent labels for their baby without assistance from clinicians or staff. This feature gives parents greater autonomy and flexibility, enabling them to print the number of labels they need, tailored to their specific circumstances.  Additionally, self-service label printing improves staff efficiency by involving parents in the process and reducing this task from the clinical staff’s workload.

Integrated Real-Time support

Integrating in-app support services will allow families to access a live support chat and self-service support features without leaving the parent application. This eliminates the need to sift through physical documents or search for contact information in the event an application-related question or need arises, providing a seamless and convenient way for parents to receive real-time assistance and resources. Similarly, integrated real-time support will be available in the clinician application, enhancing staff efficiency by streamlining the resolution of challenges and providing quick access to assistance when needed.

AngelEye Health is deeply committed to innovating and leveraging technology to support the unique needs of NICU parents and families. We understand the challenges they face during such a critical time and strive to create solutions that provide convenience, flexibility, and peace of mind. Through continuous advancements in our technology, we aim to empower families with tools that simplify processes, enhance communication, and deliver real-time support. By focusing on innovation, we are dedicated to making a meaningful difference in the lives of NICU parents and ensuring they feel supported every step of the way.