Video – Heartland Cares: Quality of Life and Family Impact in Caring for Children with Trisomy 13 and 18

Dr. Nicole Birge & Dr. Meaghann Weaver
Heartland Cares: Quality of Life and Family Impact in Caring for Children with Trisomy 13 and 18. From the SOFT 2020 Virtual Conference.

About Dr. Nicole Birge:
Nicole Birge M.D. is the Medical Director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Children’s Hospital and Medical Center Omaha.
Children’s NICU is unique amongst other NICUs in the region in that we’re the only level 4 NICU, which means that we can provide advanced technologies and support that other NICUs within the region can’t offer, access to surgical subspecialties, anesthesiologists, and other important medical innovations and devices.
I think most parents would describe me as someone who likes to get stuff done. And so when I start my week, I like to have a goal — whether that’s weaning the baby off a ventilator, establishing feeds, getting a baby off TPN, or getting them home. We will set a date for when we want to achieve this goal and we will get there.
I really enjoy neonatology because every day brings something different. No two babies are the same, and each baby has his own unique set of complications and circumstances. And it really forces us to think about the whole baby and really use all of the things that we used in medical school when we approach these complex patients. That’s why I enjoy it so much.
My advice would be to always ask questions, always ask for clarification. We are on the same team. And we have the same common goal of making your baby better, and so we want to work with you as much as possible on getting that done.

About Dr. Meaghann Weaver:
Meaghann Weaver, MD, MPH, FAAP currently serves as Division Chief, Pediatric Palliative Care at the Children’s Hospital and Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska. Meaghann graduated from Creighton University Summa Cum Laude with a major in Theology and a co-major in African Studies. After medical school, she completed her pediatric residency in Virginia and then completed a pediatric oncology/hematology fellowship at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital with additional research training at DC Children’s National Health Systems. She then completed an additional fellowship in palliative care and hospice at the National Institutes of Health. Meaghann received her public health degree (global health epidemiology) from George Washington University. Meaghann is interested in supportive care and complex symptom management for patients, spirituality in healthcare, caregiver resilience, patient-provider communication, patient reported outcomes, global health, implementation science, and integrative/complementary modalities.