Vanessa played a pivotal part in the positive experience we had at the NICU with our son R after his birth. Her expansive expertise and the thoughtful, genuine, incredible care she showed R amazed us. While so many of her colleagues demonstrated excellent care for R, Vanessa stood out because she demonstrated such efficient but gentle care, even with tasks that might have been uncomfortable for R, such as a feeding tube and blood tests. She consistently looked out for every next step he might need to take to get stronger and more ready to go home and how we could best support him to achieve those milestones.

For example, before and after rounds, Vanessa would prepare us for what might be discussed, remind us of questions we had that would be good to ask the full team and talk us through additional details and practical implications of what was discussed at rounds, such as changes to R’s schedule or treatments he was receiving. While it was wonderful and informative to speak to the doctor teams directly as well, Vanessa made sure we fully understood all that was discussed. She also went above and beyond to patiently and thoroughly teach us - new parents without a clue! - so much about how to best care for R and tips and tricks along the way. She made us feel so much more confident in our ability to care for him when bringing him home, even though he was still so small and required extra care and attention. We couldn’t be more grateful for all she did for our family.