What is a Caroline’s Room?

Caroline’s Room is a peaceful refuge, a “comfort zone” for the growing number of families with babies in need of neonatal intensive care. It is a carefully and professionally designed waiting room/living room, furnished with elegant seating, lighting, and artwork (all meeting required safety standards) and, preferably, with special medical monitoring capabilities. It is vital that the room be located in the midst of the NICU, where parents can readily strategize with doctors and other caregivers, hold family conferences, and celebrate good news. It is a place for quiet time when parents are asked to leave their child’s bedside, and it is where families can go for reflection, prayer, and counsel. In the case of impending death, it is where families can spend the last moments with their child in a dignified and private space that has a comforting sense of home. And finally, it is a place to grieve.

The concept of Caroline’s Room is the inspiration of Jocelyn and Gary Doyens, who know firsthand the roller coaster of emotions that all NICU parents experience. Their daughter, Caroline Marie, was a patient in the Newborn Special Care Unit at Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital, and after two months and one day, she lost her valiant battle to live. Jocelyn and Gary remember the anxious waiting and hushed conferences with caregivers in the hallway, and they will never forget being with Caroline as she died, with only a simple screen surrounding her isolette for privacy. After Caroline’s death, and with great gratitude for the loving and skilled care that Caroline was given, Jocelyn and Gary committed themselves to helping other parents who find themselves in a similar time of profound crisis.

Jocelyn and Gary’s vision of providing dignity and comfort for families with children in the NICU has become reality; there are currently six Caroline’s Rooms, with several more under active consideration. The existing Caroline’s Rooms are enthusiastically supported and endorsed by the parents, physicians, and nurses who have experienced and observed the benefits that this space provides. In the words of one physician, "It is difficult to imagine how we managed before we had this outstanding facility.” The dream of the Caroline’s Room Fund is a day when there is a Caroline’s Room in every neonatal intensive care unit in the country.