‘Things just got better’: New technology helps preemies breathe easier at St. Charles

(Update: adding comments from St. Charles, parents)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) - St. Charles Bend has become the first neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Oregon to use a new breathing support technology called NAVA, designed to help premature babies breathe more comfortably.

NAVA, which stands for Neurally Adjusted Ventilatory Assist, responds to a baby’s own signals to match each breath, instead of delivering air on a fixed schedule like traditional ventilators.

“It works in combination with a specialized feeding tube and ventilator,” said Cammie Egan, a neonatal nurse practitioner for St. Charles. “The feeding tube has sensors on it, so every time the baby’s diaphragm moves, the sensors pick up that signal.”

In the past six months, more than a dozen infants have benefited from the technology, including baby Ronan, who was born three months early. His parents traveled from their home in Lakeview, about three hours away, for his care.

“In the first couple of days, he was put on NAVA,” said Ronan's father, Jason Morelli. “Before that, there were alarms going off because he wasn’t getting enough oxygen."

He said once Ronan started using NAVA, the improvements came quickly, and brought a huge sense of relief.

“He wasn’t breathing as hard, the alarms weren’t going off as much, and he was sleeping better," said Morelli. "I’m grateful they have this technology. I don’t know what it would’ve been like if we had to transport him to another hospital.”

Hospital providers say the system supports infant development and allows babies to breathe independently sooner.

"We're really proud of it. It's taken a lot of teamwork between our nursing staff, our respiratory therapists, the providers, really to to learn this technology," Egan said.

Ronan recently came off ventilator support and is expected to go home around his original due date, January 17th.