Member Spotlight: Caleb and Stephanie Price want NICU moms to feel seen

When Stephanie Price had her twin boys about four years ago, the babies were together about 30 minutes before Finn, the youngest, was taken to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) down the hall. Stephanie and her husband, Caleb, spent Thanksgiving Day in the hospital while living through 11 days of uncertainty, isolation, and exhaustion.

Stephanie knows many other parents, especially moms, face this difficulty. The NICU is designed to support and care for babies in need, but mothers are often bystanders balancing joy with grief.

Stephanie’s lived experience opened her eyes to the world of NICU mamas and planted the seed for her to start Mama, I See You, a nonprofit focused on supporting NICU mothers.

Supporting moms with babies who have to be in ICUs

“Our mission with Mama, I See You really matches Samaritan’s—believers supporting other believers or like-minded people supporting like-minded people such as moms taking care of moms,” she said.

Mama, I See You gives tote bags filled with high-quality items to mothers facing the unknown and waiting while their baby is in the NICU. The bags are meant to give them comfort and an unexpected blessing.

“The whole vision of Mama, I See You is to really zero in on the mom,” Stephanie said. “There are so many resources and opportunities for the baby and even for families, and there are lots of ways to get your bills paid and meals, but nothing sees only the mom.”

How Samaritan membership helped the Prices through their crisis

The Colorado Springs, Colorado, parents of five didn’t have to worry about bearing the financial burden from the NICU alone when Finn was taken there. Instead, they experienced through their Samaritan membership what it meant to be seen and supported by a community of believers—a model that would later shape how they would care for other moms.

“The worry is gone (with Samaritan),” Stephanie said. “The NICU would have cost us $100,000 out of pocket. With a cash-pay discount and working with Samaritan, I think we got it down to $22,000, so it was a huge savings. Samaritan mediated a lot of it for me. They gave the hospital a call. My brain was focused on my baby, so it was very helpful that they would call on my behalf and mediate the bills.”

The struggle for NICU mamas

About 1 in 10 mothers have babies who end up in the NICU, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Postpartum recovery collides with fear, grief, and uncertainty for those moms.

"Their whole life is kind of frozen, but somehow life does go on,” Caleb said. “The mortgage has to be paid, and the other kids need to be taken care of, but it feels like your life is just on pause for a bit. You’re just going to live right there with your little baby.”

Not every mother has the support of extended family, and some have to juggle jobs, other children, and long commutes back and forth from the hospital.

In addition, many parents are unprepared for the length of NICU stays, Stephanie said. It’s not typically something mothers plan for when they are preparing to have a baby, and the average stay ranges from 11 to 13 days, and can be much longer.

“Every nurse we work with has been very kind to really read the room and see who needs a bag because we can’t give everyone a bag right now,” Caleb said. “A lot of our moms who have bags have been in there for 70 to 90 days.”

Encouragement when it matters

Hands-on maternal care can end abruptly once babies go to the NICU for intensive care and attention. Moms don’t have much time to focus on their own needs and their healing.

Stephanie puts the bags together and distributes them through trusted relationships at their local children’s hospital.

The bags include items like

• a journal
• water bottle
• toiletries
• slippers
• small comforts such as tea and shower steamers
• $100 minimum DoorDash gift card
• a handwritten note with Scripture, prayer, and encouragement

The bags are valued at around $300 each. Mama, I See You gives 15 to 20 bags per month.

“We love the Lord and know that His word doesn’t return void, so there is a Bible verse in every card,” Stephanie said. “I pray about which verse to include and pray that Jesus would be with them.”

Some NICU moms rarely leave the hospital, and asking for help can be emotionally difficult, so the bags offer comfort that helps them restore dignity.

“I think a lot of moms don’t know that they feel so depleted,” Stephanie said. “One mom said they didn’t know when they were going to leave and the bag gave her the encouragement she needed to keep going.”

Another mom was so moved by her gift bag that she paid it forward by getting her church group to make baby quilts for the NICU babies.

“If anyone wants to take (an idea) and run with it, I’ll be the first to champion that,” Stephanie said.

Expanding the mission

Mama, I See You serves the Colorado Springs area primarily, but the Prices have dreams of expanding by building donor partnerships, having more community engagement, and opening chapters in other cities with gifts catered to their location.

Stephanie also dreams of sending NICU mothers home with support, because once they leave the NICU, the hardships don’t go away.

“I would love to be able to give people a going-home DoorDash gift card or something like that as well to continue the support,” she said.

How you can help

The Prices felt supported during some of their hardest days because they are Samaritan Ministries members. Mama, I See You now exists to make sure NICU mothers know they are not invisible—and never alone.

Caleb and Stephanie ask for prayer first and foremost for the mothers and their babies.

In addition, anyone who would like to make a one-time gift or set up monthly giving can do so at MamaISeeYou.com. A $25 monthly gift would fund one bag per year for a NICU mom.