Upon birth, our daughter spent 8 weeks in the
hospital resulting from birth complications. Our
daughter has Down Syndrome. She spent 6
weeks in the neonatal care unit in Women’s
College Hospital in Toronto, and 2 weeks in The
Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto.

Women’s College Hospital, Toronto

The neonatal care unit where our daughter spent the
first 6 weeks of her life in an incubator was
overcrowded and drab, to say the least. Most of the
sick babies were packed into one large room which was
packed full of medical equipment, parents, and hospital staff.
The atmosphere was very neutral and clinical not an atmosphere
reflective of the fact that this is where little ones were expected to
thrive before they could go home.

When you put it all together, the smell, the feel, the look, and the demeanor
of the staff, you definitely could not mistake that you where anywhere
except a hospital room. During our time there, I spent nights sleeping in a chair.
The room, which had been assigned to me for one week of my daughter’s 6-week
stay there was a small square cinderblock room. You had the feeling you were
in jail – but it was so much worse. We were happy when our daughter was
transferred to The Hospital for Sick Kids.