Under webcam's watchful eye

At first, everything seemed to be going smoothly for the Veenemas and their newborn daughter, Claire.

``Steven and I were sitting in our room, thinking, `We're going home tomorrow with this baby,' " recalled Krista Veenema, 29, of Beverly, who gave birth June 1 at Beverly Hospital.

Claire had been acting a bit lethargic and was not eating well, but the Veenemas didn't know anything was seriously amiss until medical staff came into their room and told them that Claire was being immediately transferred to the hospital's special care nursery, which provides intensive care to newborns.

``They had a dome over her head and we were a wreck," said Claire's mother . The next few nights, she and her husband worried about their baby from home.

``It was hard to go home without her," Krista Veenema said. ``You see all the parents leaving with their [babies in] car seats."

Starting this month, a new high-tech video system will give some level of comfort to parents like the Veenemas, who must leave their infants in the hospital's special care nursery while they return home.

A Web camera will send a 10-minute live video feed that can be viewed from the home or work computers of anxious parents, grandparents, and other family members. Purchased as a gift by a pair of Essex Agricultural and Technical High School teachers, the portable Apple iSIGHT camera system (the software is by a company called Evological) will provide new parents a better way to stay in contact with their child during a stressful time.

Beverly is the only hospital north of Boston -- and perhaps the only one in the state -- with this piece of technology, according to Dr. Tai Tran , director of the special care nursery and a neonatologist affiliated with Children's Hospital in Boston, who researched the purchase. A spokesman for the Massachusetts Hospital Association said its clinical managers were unaware of a similar system anywhere in the state.

The webcam video link has been tried in special care nurseries at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Winchester Hospital, though none currently use such a system. Dr. Charles Safran is the founder of the company that produced a pioneering webcam system called Baby Carelink, used in eight states through the late 1990s and early 2000s. He said it failed to gain commercial support in part because personal computer users without high-bandwidth connections had trouble getting a good video image.

``As connectivity is greater, the webcam's value is more apparent," said Safran, an associate clinical professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. ``The problem was getting enough bandwidth into the home, particularly to disadvantaged mothers, who have 40 percent of the babies found in special care nurseries."

Some other hospitals currently have static camera stations that take still pictures, but the advantage of the Beverly system is that it can be wheeled directly to the baby, and deliver streaming video of the baby sleeping, breathing, and moving.

``It's very harsh to be here, especially for first-time parents, " said Tran, noting that the unit's 12 bays are often filled to capacity with babies who were born prematurely or with cardiac or respiratory problems, infections, or other issues. While the unit was designed to provide comfort for families, including two rooms for overnight stays, parents often must leave their child in the hospital for seven to 12 days, or even longer.

``Some preemies stay here for one month, sometimes up to two months," Tran said.

For a parent or grandparent, Tran said, the ability to see the baby will help provide comfort that a doctor's words cannot. ``Your life goes on, but you're anxious about the baby. Psychologically, this is a big relief," he said.

Krista Veenema said that she would have welcomed the technology during the nights she spent at home apart from her child, who was diagnosed with a form of pneumonia.

``In the middle of the night when [I was] getting up and thinking of her over here, it would be nice to say, `Can I just see her for a second?' " she said.

Under the new system, a parent will first call and arrange for the webcam to be wheeled into place, and then access the video image from their computer by logging on to a secure website, according to Tran. The process is password-protected, and limited to 10-minute segments, but the images can be accessed from anywhere with an Internet connection.

In the near future, Tran said, the webcam may also be used to transmit the image over a shorter distance, to the plasma television in the family waiting area. That way, siblings under 12 who are not allowed in the nursery during the winter months (because of concerns of upper respiratory infections) will still be able to see their new brother or sister.

The video link could also be used by a doctor wishing to consult with a specialist, particularly a genetics specialist, Tran said. ``They can say, `Can I see the finger? Can I see the ears?' and we can roll the camera to the ears," he said.

Frequently, he said, babies are born with little anomalies but are otherwise healthy. By receiving instant feedback from a specialist, parents in Beverly can avoid not only a trip to Boston, but also the uncertainty that comes in the days before the appointment.

``If you can instantaneously get a result, it helps very, very much to relieve anxiety for the parents," Tran said.

The webcam came as a gift from Peter and Erin Dolan, parents of Kyla, who celebrated her first birthday in April.

``Erin had a wonderful pregnancy but the delivery was horrific," said Peter Dolan, 41, a Groveland resident. The baby was not breathing on delivery, and the first four days of the infant's life were spent in the special care unit. ``The care Kyla received was just amazing, and also the care Erin received."

Beverly Hospital has had a special care nursery since 1991. But in 2004, the hospital built a $4.7 million state-of-the-art facility dedicated to special care for newborns. Built as part of a new wing of the hospital, it was designed with input from doctors and nurses. During a conversation with one of the nurses, Peter Dolan asked if there was anything they wished to include in the new facility, but hadn't. That led the Dolans to make the donation.

Peter Dolan wouldn't reveal the amount of their donation, but said he and his wife are more likely to give $25 to the American Cancer Society than to present a major gift.

``It's not about the money," he said. ``It's about care, and peace of mind."