#025 - What Does It Really Mean to Feel Seen in the NICU?

What does it take to feel truly seen during one of the most vulnerable moments of your life? In this episode of Beyond the Beeps, host Leah Jayanetti sits down with Val Butler, manager of AIME (the Alliance for Infant Maternal Health) in Miami-Dade County. Val shares her own NICU story, the surprise of learning her nearly ten-pound daughter needed NICU care, and the grace it took to sit with not knowing. She and Leah unpack what made her care team different: representation, transparency, and a refusal to treat patients as anything less than whole people. The conversation widens into Val's work connecting maternal hypertension, climate, housing, and mental health across Miami-Dade's care systems, and closes with her reflections on hope, grace, and what to pack in a NICU bag. A candid, moving conversation for anyone who has ever needed someone else to carry a little of the weight. Support the show As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!