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Paloma Comfort Care
When a family is given the devastating news that their unborn baby has a life-limiting condition or life-threatening illness, they face many difficulties.
The UCI Health Paloma Comfort Care Program helps such families on their journey from pregnancy to birth, and after birth in the Labor and Delivery Unit, Post-Partum Unit or Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
We are here to promote a nurturing environment for families by providing emotional, physical and spiritual care.
We work with parents in family conferences to understand their needs, hopes and goals for their infant, and to help them make difficult decisions. We are dedicated to family-centered care that honors parental preferences for their baby.
We are committed to:
- Building a caring and trusting relationship with families
- Helping families navigate their options
- Providing compassionate care during an infant's life
- Supporting the needs of the family
- Delivering comfort care to the infant
- Respecting and honoring family preferences and wishes
Our services
The Paloma Comfort Care Program provides many supportive services designed to meet the needs of families, including:
- Assistance in developing a birth plan
- Coordination of care with multiple physicians and medical staff
- Navigation of the healthcare system, including referrals and community resources
- Professional counseling for family members
- Education about how to help grieving siblings
- Memory-making
- Compassionate listening and support
- Spiritual support through exchanges with chaplains
- Rituals that may provide comfort to baby and family
- Follow-up support for up to one year
- Information on grief support groups
- Multilingual supportive services as needed and available
Our team
As a family-centered care program, we provide support to every member of the family. Our multidisciplinary healthcare providers offer expertise at every step:
- Physicians representing multiple specialties provide high-quality medical care.
- Clinic nurse navigators work with families to refer them to the Paloma Comfort Care Program.
- Perinatal and neonatal nurse navigators work closely with families and clinical experts to facilitate communication and make sure family wishes are carried out.
- Registered nurses provide direct care to the family and infant during the hospital stay.
- Case managers assess and coordinate discharge needs of the families prior to leaving the hospital.
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Chaplains offer holistic healing, religious support and counseling for families.
- Clinical social workers work closely with families to provide short-term counseling, anticipatory guidance, crisis intervention, education and community resources.
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Certified Child Life Specialists work with and support siblings to help them cope with the stress and anxiety of illness and grief.
- Lactation consultants help with donations to the breast milk bank and with easing the production of breast milk as needed.
For more information about the Paloma Comfort Care program, contact the Child Life Department at 714-456-8391.