2021 NICU Small Grant Application Guidelines
AWHONN’s Every Woman, Every Baby fund is thrilled to award 10 individual hospitals/facilities/institutions with Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) with small grants created to promote breastfeeding and best infant feeding practices with vulnerable neonates.
Due to the acuity of vulnerable neonates as patients, and risk mitigation toward COVID infection among parents and providers alike, hospitals are challenged to increase programs that support the health and developmental needs of neonates in the NICU and their families. Restrictions on resources, personnel and even support persons for birthing persons and their infant(s) have significantly challenged hospital obstetric and NICU units.
To relieve some of the pressures within NICUs, AWHONN seeks to provide ten (10) grants of $1,000 each, through the generosity of the Prolacta Bioscience Foundation, to hospitals seeking to expand lactation and infant feeding services to parents and babies receiving care within NICU units throughout the U.S.
Support for transportation, meals, and access to the NICU is an example of how hospitals help vulnerable families. Additional family-centered care supports that could be provided under a Prolacta Bioscience Foundation grant could include but not be limited to innovative adaptations some hospitals have made during COVID in support of efficacious and safe care for neonates, such as any of the following in support of breastfeeding and/or feeding mother’s own breastmilk:
- Provision of breast pumps and other devices for breastmilk expression and/or feeding for mothers of neonates under NICU care
- Resources for ongoing COVID-19 screening to ensure neonates are not exposed to COVID-positive family members or healthcare staff
- Educational tools and strategies for modifying NICU rounds, when as many as a dozen or more healthcare providers and family members may huddle around a vulnerable neonate
- Refresher training among all NICU staff for infection prevention and control protocols related to promoting and providing lactation support
- Revision of protocols to manage equipment and resource shortages, such as breast pumps or PPE, when supporting lactating families
- Funding for the development and provision of telehealth programs for families who are separated from their neonates in the NICU
- Continuous video access for the parent of NICU-admitted neonates for parents to view their infants at any time during the NICU stay
- Mental and emotional health supports for mothers who may feel isolated from their newborn in the NICU, and grieve the loss of bonding and attachment with their baby
- Virtual class development and deployment for parenting preterm and other vulnerable neonates
- Support for existing lactation and infant feeding programs within NICUs now
Eligibility Criteria
To qualify for this award, the applicant must demonstrate the following in writing:
- The individual hospital/facility/institution primarily serves vulnerable populations that may include the economically disadvantaged, racial and ethnic minorities, the uninsured, low-income families, and the homeless. It may also include rural residents, who often encounter barriers to accessing healthcare services. A description of the populations served, or a patient census should be addressed in the application.
- The individual hospital/facility/institution must have a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and the grant must be used to support breastfeeding or lactation within the NICU.
- The individual hospital/facility/institution must demonstrate a need for a small grant
- The primary contact must be an AWHONN Member (Full Member).
Application Process
- The applicant and hospital/facility/institution must complete and submit the application form
- Letter of support: The applicant must submit a letter of support signed by the Hospital Chief Executive Officer or Chief Nursing Officer.
- Statement of need: In 500 words or less, describe the need and/or purpose of the grant to expand lactation, NICU resources and infant feeding services to parents and babies receiving care within NICU unit.
Applications are due October 15, 2021. Recipients will be notified in early December 2021. Questions? Please contact us via email at scholarship@awhonn.org.
