Nine years ago, Brandy Jenkins delivered twins at Piedmont Fayette Hospital; Taylor and Brady. Born at 28 weeks, the twins both spent time in the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Taylor survived, but unfortunately, Brady passed away two months later. Jenkins and her family channeled that grief into raising awareness for premature birth. They work with March of Dimes and do all they can to keep Brady’s memory alive.
One way they do that is by collecting donations at the annual Gaddy Family Christmas Light Extravaganza. Brandy’s parents are Mike and Gwen Gaddy and in addition to collecting Toys for Tots at the drive-through display each year, they also collect donations for March of Dimes. The family recently decided that they wanted to do something to help parents with babies in the Piedmont Fayette NICU, so they purchased a chair in honor and memory of Taylor and Brady. The chair assists with kangaroo care, which is skin to skin contact between mother and baby.
“Not only does kangaroo care help with breastfeeding and bonding, but it has been proven to assist with development and help babies regulate their temperature and heart rate,” said Tracie Delally, Director of Women’s Services at Piedmont Fayette. “This is an amazing gift for the families in our NICU.”
Jenkins and her parents also donated gift boxes for the families in the NICU. “We know how difficult this time can be for those families, so our hope is that these baskets make a tough experience a little better,” said Jenkins.
Piedmont Fayette is a not-for-profit hospital and philanthropic support allows the hospital to not only purchase equipment like the chair used for kangaroo care, but also provide services that make a positive impact for patients each and every day. For more information on how you can make a gift to Piedmont Fayette, visit give.piedmont.org/Fayette or you can also call or email Andrea Mendez with Piedmont Healthcare Foundation at 404-947-0318 or Andrea.mendez@piedmont.org.
