Parents of infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Abington Hospital-Jefferson Health can now feel a little more at ease when they’re unable to be physically present at their baby’s bedside.

Thanks to a generous donation, each of the NICU’s 34 beds are now equipped with NICVIEW web cameras, which allow parents, family, and friends to view their infant in real-time, 24/7, through a secure online portal.

An additional four web cameras were purchased to accommodate patient overflow in the NICU, bringing Abington’s total to 38 cameras.

“This technology will completely transform the NICU experience for the hundreds of families we serve in the Andrew Tesauro Special Care Nursery each year,” said Kathryn Ziegler, DO, Abington Hospital’s Division of Neonatology. “From tears of happiness to heartfelt expressions of gratitude, the results have been nothing short of amazing.”

Access to the NICVIEW web camera system is secure. Parents are given personal login information (which can be shared with family and friends) to access the online portal and see their baby anytime from anywhere in the world.

“Families from across the U.S. have been utilizing the web-camera system already,” Dr. Ziegler added, “as well as from India, Pakistan, South Korea, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico.”

The purchase of the web cameras was made possible by a $100,000 gift by Kevin and Caitlin Johnson of New Hope, along with Kevin’s parents, John and Sue Johnson of Flemington, N.J.

Kevin and Caitlin’s twin boys, Brayden and Parker, are former patients in Abington’s NICU, having been born at 28 weeks. They are now enjoying life as happy, healthy one-year-olds.