NICU Alumni Podcast

Brittany Aquart is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, Board Certified Pediatric Clinical Specialist, and mom of two, one of whom had a NICU stay.  Quick Takeaways from the Episode: Going through the NICU with her own child is an experience that changed her perspective as a Physical Therapist and her practice. She understands that it is really easy to feel insignificant in the NICU and like you don’t ha...

Tune in for a Special Episode: "Reflecting on One Year of the NICU Alumni Podcast" with our Board of Directors! 🎉 Join us as we look back on a year of inspiring stories, valuable insights, and heartfelt connections. Hear from the dedicated individuals behind the scenes who have made this podcast possible. Quick Takeaways from the Episode: FL Partners in Policymaking The Zaky HUG collabo...

Savannah Jane O’Malley is a wife and working mother of 3 former preemies. She works full-time, pursues her artistic passions part-time, and moms all the time. We talk about her twin boys who were born 3.5 months early, how they spent their first 3 months fighting for the chance at life despite being given many devastating diagnoses, enduring countless ups and downs, and achieving absolutely incred...

Jennifer Degl is the mother of four, including a micro preemie born at 23 weeks gestation. As the founder of Speaking for Moms and Babies, Inc., her mission is to educate the public on maternal and neonatal health issues. She's also the author of three books and has published articles in both the Journal of Pediatrics and the Journal of Perinatology. Quick Takeaways from the Episode: Jennifer...

Martha Sharkey is the Founder & CEO of Today is a Good Day, a non-profit providing personal and financial support for families who experience the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Martha and her husband, Paul, founded Today is a Good Day in honor of their daughter, Claire, and in memory of their daughter, Mary. They welcomed their identical twin girls at just 23 weeks and 5 days on November...

This week we are interviewing Alexandra Sportini, a NICU Mom to an IUGR (Intrauterine Growth Restriction) miracle baby who will soon be 15 months old. We talk about Alexandra's journey with breast milk which actually started before her son was born while she was in antepartum. From there, we discuss her son's NICU experience, and how, following his birth, she became an exclusive pumper....

In this episode, we hear from Dr. Michelle Klein, a pediatrician at Uptown Pediatrics in NYC. Originally from California, Dr. Klein earned her BA in Neuroscience from UCLA, followed by a master’s degree in Physiology and Biophysics from Georgetown University, and her medical degree from New York Medical College. Her journey continued as she completed her pediatric residency, chief residency, and p...

Trish Ringley has been a NICU nurse since she graduated from nursing school in 1997. After more than 15 years serving NICU families, she realized how hard it is for parents to find the products they crave to support them during their NICU experience. So in 2014, she founded Every Tiny Thing, a brand devoted to providing the NICU products parents need and deserve. Quick Call Outs from the Episode:...

In this heartwarming episode, we interview our founder's daughter and dive into the beautiful tradition NICU Alumni started of collecting The Zaky HUGs® to distribute within our community. What is The Zaky HUG®? 🤗 It is a soft, weighted hand-shaped pillow that simulates the touch and warmth of a parent's hand. It's designed to provide comfort, security, and a sense of closeness for...

Krystal Janet is a full time working momma and stepmom. She embraces all parenting a child with special needs, coparenting and life changes with good books and cafecito. Krystal enjoys traveling, attending community events, eating sushi and trying all the red wines. This momma strives to continue strengthening and growing her village through her family and friends, both local and out of state, and...

Alesia DiSano, is a Senior Pediatric Occupational Therapist with 19 years of experience in the field. We met through a mutual contact, Leah Jayanetti , a PT that we also had on the podcast earlier this year. In Leah's words… “Alesia is a renowned occupational therapist with a wealth of experience in early intervention, inpatient and outpatient therapy and has worked in the Sensory Integration...

Marci Launer, is the owner and founder of Launer Speech Language Therapy, a private speech language pathology practice based out of Long Island, NY. While working in early intervention she found her passion for feeding and swallowing in infants and specializes in treating infants and toddlers with Feeding and Swallowing difficulties. Marci has worked with preemies, micro preemies, infants and todd...

Yamile Jackson, is the Creator of The Zaky HUG and International Kangaroo Care Awareness Day. In this interview, Yamile shares about her experience in the NICU with her son and how skin to skin helped them both thrive even in the midst of a tropical storm, and being transferred between two hospitals. From these experiences she went on to found Nurtured by Design®, where she has harnessed her exper...

Lindsay Davis is a Child Life Specialist with over 15 years of experience in the industry. During her time working at a NICU in NYC she created and implemented a child life program in the NICU and co-facilitated the NICU Family Advisory Council. She has a Master’s Degree in Child Life from Bank Street College of Education in NYC and we're so thrilled to get to speak with her! Quick Call Outs...

Dr. Jennie Trocchio holds a PhD. in Leadership and Special Education with a focus in Autism. Ciara LaVelle is a mom and advocate for her two sons, one of whom is autistic. Ciara is also a board member and the editorial director of NICU Alumni. Quick Call Outs from the Episode: Although Dr. Jennie’s speciality focused in the area of autism may not seem to be related to a family's journey after...

Consuelo Kloosterman is an experienced pediatric physical therapist. She has over 25 years of clinical expertise in the NICU, and currently works in two level III NICUs in Palm Beach County, Florida. Quick Call Outs from the Episode: Physical Therapy in the NICU covers so much about how to care for and connect with your baby. You can learn things like -  How to touch your baby How to hold your bab...

Drawn to Neonatology as a young girl, Dr. Marta Grisel Galarza has been a lifelong NICU baby champion. She is the Medical Director of the Intermediate Care NICU at a leading hospital in Miami, FL. In recent years, she has also developed a Neonatal/ Antenatal specific palliative care program for the Division of Neonatology. Grisel is a founding board member of NICU Alumni and we are so thrilled to...

Leah Jayanetti is a Parent, and Physical Therapist/DPT. Leah has worked in early intervention home based therapy, in unit at the NICU, in NICU follow-up clinics and at outpatient rehab centers. She has lectured in universities and NICU conferences about appropriate environments for NICU babies and is a founding board member of ICU baby where she currently serves as the Director of Programs and Edu...

This week we chat with Kelli Kelley, a 2x NICU parent who is also the founder and CEO of Hand to Hold, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to providing emotional support, education, and community to parents who have had children in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) or the loss of a baby. Quick Call Outs from the Episode: Our challenges don’t end at the NICU Kelli shares how at first,...

WE LOVE OUR NICU NURSES - Sarah has been a nurse in the Neonatal ICU (NICU) since 2005. The NICU she works at is a Level III - 40 Bed Unit in Miami. She serves as the Charge Nurse as well as the Clinical Coordinator. Sarah is married and has 2 daughters, ages 5 and 6. Quick Call Outs from the Episode: A Clinical Coordinator oversees the care of all of the patients in the NICU as well as the work o...

On our first episode of the year, we speak with Tammy Balaban, an Occupational Therapist in NYC. She has over 15 years of experience working in various settings including schools, homes, and clinics both privately and through Early Intervention. Tammy is passionate about helping babies and their families. She’s been called a "toyologist" by parents, who love her creative approach to usin...

Our goal for this podcast has been to talk with parents and families who have “been there” so they can share about their NICU experience, as well as experts who have some kind of connection to the NICU field… Cynthia’s experience and career path actually check both boxes so this episode is kind of a hybrid. We talk about her personal experiences and how she navigated the NICU and post-NICU journey...

Brooke Arevalo, is an Early Intervention Advocate raising 5 beautiful children in sunny San Diego.  Her children range from ages 1-9, with her oldest being the only girl. Three of her children were premature, and 4 of them have gone (or are going through) the Early Intervention program. Her family relocated from New York City to San Diego during covid, so she has gone through this process in both...

Liz is an expert in all things Early Intervention (EI) - especially as it relates to services in NYC… but she has a wealth of knowledge to share that can be helpful to all of our NICU Alumni families, no matter where you are. After gaining some experience working in Early Intervention she fell in love and never looked back. She has now dedicated herself to supporting families in EI programs for ov...

Deb Malkoff-Cohen is a Registered Dietitian (RD), Certified Dietitian-Nutritionist (CDN), and Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE), with a Masters in Clinical Nutrition from NYU. She is the founder and owner of Nutrition by DMC , a nutritional consultation service for children living in and around New York City. Known for her innovative approach to spooning nutritional knowledge into small bellies, D...