BEAUMONT, Texas — Baptists Hospitals of Southeast Texas now has the first hospital in Southeast Texas with 'NICVIEW' cameras.
Six cameras were installed inside the NICU department of Baptist Hospital earlier this week to give parents the ability to watch their child while away from the hospital.
Russ and Brooke Chandler are among the first to get to use this technology at Baptist.
Brooke gave birth to twins Wednesday morning after being admitted to the hospital on Friday for preeclampsia.
Her daughter and son were born a couple weeks early and taken to the NICU.
Russ and Brooke couldn't physically be with them in the beginning, but thanks to the hospital's new device, they could still see their babies.
"It was a lifesaver for me yesterday. We were able to watch them all day yesterday and last night," said Brooke. "So, it gave me a bit of a bonding experience with them ahead of time when I couldn't be here."
The NICVIEW cameras provided a blessing for the Chandlers.
Two years ago, they didn't have a way to see their first-born Cameron when he ended up in the NICU.
"I hadn't really gotten a chance to see him and I couldn't hold him, all I was hearing was word of mouth from other people." said Brooke. "That was real stressful for me, so being able to see them yesterday was awesome."
The devices were funded through a grant from Union Pacific Railroad Company and purchased by Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas.
Dr. Snehal Doshi came up with the idea of installing cameras in the NICU roughly two years ago.
He is the medical director of the department at Baptist Hospital and is excited with the feedback so far.
Doshi said "It's been great, we've barely been using the system for 48 hours and already we're seeing people from Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, and all over Texas."
The six cameras work like a typical baby monitor at home.
Parents are given a username and password to log into the website which also allows other family members to watch as well.
"They'll actually text us when they switch cameras and say 'hey, the boy's on or the girl's on,' said Russ. "So, it's actually really nice for the them to see the babies."
The Chandlers are one of the first families to use the NICVIEW cameras.
"You get to recognize what they look like, what they are doing," Russ added. "Whether the girl is a lot feistier than the boy, you get to know their mannerisms just by watching them and it's really neat."
The family expressed their love for a feature on the website where nurses can leave notes about the babies to parents watching.
Dr. Doshi adds the cameras have already proven to be a powerful therapeutic device.
"We've had one mom who had gone home and her blood pressure was high," said Dr. Doshi. "She said the only way to get her blood pressure down was to see her baby."
Anyone with a cell phone, computer or tablet can access the website but Dr. Doshi is hopeful an app will make it easier for families to watch.
The Chandlers have named the girl Sadie, but have not found a name for the boy yet.
They tell 12News that the twins are expected to be released in the next couple of weeks without any long-term health issues.