Jarrod Feight and Miranda Browning with their daughter, Eleanor ‘Ellie’ Feight

Eleanor Feight turned 1 year old in June, and her mother’s colleagues in the NICU can take pleasure in the fact that all is normal now. When Eleanor was born, it was a different situation.

Her mother, Miranda Browning, has worked in the NICU of the William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital since 2013. As a speech-language pathologist, Ms. Browning helps newborns learn how to suck, swallow, and breathe properly. She never dreamed her own baby would need the same assistance.

Ms. Browning had a normal pregnancy, but her daughter was born with a cleft palate and a small chin that created breathing issues. Eleanor spent 10 days in the NICU, and later had surgeries to elongate her chin, improve her breathing, and repair her cleft palate.

 “It was scary,” Ms. Browning said, “but I had confidence that she’d be taken care of since I knew the staff so well. It’s given me another level of connection with the parents I work with since I know where they’ve been.”

Ms. Browning decided to work in her field when she witnessed what a difference speech therapy made in the life of her cousin, who has autism. She assists with speech, language, cognition, and swallowing for both adults and children.

“A lot of babies we see are premature and have not developed a mature suck pattern. We work on helping them learn to bottle or breastfeed,” she said. “Some are born with craniofacial abnormalities or Down syndrome, and have an even higher risk of difficulty feeding.”

Ms. Browning, who plans to pursue a clinical doctorate in speech pathology, finds great satisfaction in assisting new parents. “Some babies are fragile, and parents aren’t confident they can feed them safely,” she said. “By the time they go home, they have the skills they need.”