NICU Parents Get New Mental Health Program

Santa Clara Valley Medical Center has started a new mental health support program for parents with babies in its neonatal intensive care unit in San Jose, adding bedside screening, telehealth therapy and peer counseling to services already offered in the unit. KTVU reported the program on May 13 and said the hospital designed it for families facing depression, guilt and stress while an infant is hospitalized. The initiative is called the NICU Family Wellness Program. Hospital officials said it also connects families with food, transportation and child care support after discharge. ### Why did the hospital add a separate wellness program for NICU parents? Postpartum depression affects roughly 15% of new mothers overall, but the rate rises to nearly 50% for parents with babies in the NICU, KTVU reported. Santa Clara Valley Medical Center said the new program was built to respond to that gap in care for families whose infants need intensive treatment after birth. (ktvu.com) Dr. Priya Jegatheesan, chief of neonatology at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, told KTVU that families said they needed support while they were still in the NICU, not only after going home. Her comments tied the timing of the program to the hospital stay itself, when parents are often spending long hours at the bedside. ### What does the program actually provide at the bedside? (ktvu.com) The NICU Family Wellness Program offers immediate mental health screening, virtual therapy referrals and peer support from people with personal NICU experience, according to KTVU. The hospital said the goal is to identify distress early and connect parents with help before symptoms deepen. (ktvu.com) Jennifer Godfrey, the program’s family wellness coordinator, told KTVU she spent three months in the NICU with her own son and later sought help for that experience. She said she now uses that experience to support other parents in the unit. ### How does this fit with the hospital’s existing NICU support system? Santa Clara Valley Medical Center’s NICU already had family-support services before the new program launched. (ktvu.com) The hospital’s patient information page says its March of Dimes NICU Family Support program at VMC was established in 2008 and was the first hospital-managed March of Dimes-supported program in California. Two mothers, Patty Mier and Brittany Brown, are listed by the hospital as family and baby advocates who help other NICU mothers with emotional support and coping during hospital stays. The same page says the unit also offers parent education sessions, toiletries kits, lactation support and classes to prepare families for discharge. ### What help is available after a baby leaves the hospital? (scvmc.scvh.org) KTVU reported that Santa Clara Valley Medical Center designed the program to continue beyond discharge. The station said the hospital links families to basic-needs support including food, transportation and child care for siblings, reflecting the financial and logistical strain that can continue after a baby goes home. (scvmc.scvh.org) Santa Clara Valley Medical Center’s NICU service pages also say staff connect families with community resources and transportation help, and that support includes parent meetings in Spanish. Those services suggest the new wellness program is being layered onto an existing family-centered care model rather than replacing it. ### Where does this sit inside Santa Clara County’s public hospital system? (ktvu.com) Santa Clara Valley Medical Center is part of Santa Clara Valley Healthcare, the county health system. The county’s health news page lists Santa Clara Valley Medical Center among its hospital operations and shows the system has continued to expand maternal and pediatric services in recent months, including maternity recognition in January 2026 and the restoration of labor and delivery and NICU services at Regional Medical Center in October 2025. (scvmc.scvh.org) San Jose families looking for the NICU’s existing patient resources can find them through Santa Clara Valley Medical Center’s NICU patient pages, which list support programs, classes and contact information at the hospital’s Bascom Avenue campus. The county health system has not, in the materials reviewed, posted a separate stand-alone press release with additional enrollment details for the new Family Wellness Program. (scvmc.scvh.org) (health.santaclaracounty.gov)