October 07, 2026
Nearly four years after Tasneem Hamdan left Denver Health with two premature babies and a life changed by the nurses who cared for them, she came back with two healthy preschoolers and a plan to one day return in scrubs.
Adel and Kayan were among the former Neonatal Intensive Care Unit patients who returned to this hospital recently for Inpatient Pediatrics’ third annual NICU reunion, bringing families back together with the nurses and clinicians who once cared for their smallest patients.
The twins were born at just 30 weeks on Oct. 16, 2022. Adel spent 17 days in the NICU. Kayan stayed for nearly three months.
Today, they are healthy 3-year-olds who run, laugh, play and are getting ready to turn 4.
“I feel like Adel and Kayan were not only my babies,” Hamdan said at the reunion. “In a way, they were their babies too. The NICU team invested so much care, time and love into helping them survive and grow, and I feel they deserve to see how well the children are doing now.”
More than care
Hamdan entered the NICU as a new mother with little understanding of what was happening around her. She had given birth without her husband or other family nearby and suddenly found herself learning about feeding tubes, oxygen and neonatal intensive care.
The nurses became caregivers, teachers and, for Hamdan, much more.
“What I remember most is that the NICU nurses did not only care for my babies; I truly feel like they gave me a new life, too,” she said. “They cared for my twins with so much kindness, but they also supported me as a mother during one of the hardest times of my life.”
Designated as one of Newsweek’s Best Maternity Care Hospitals, Denver Health delivers more than 4,200 babies each year, or one-third of all Denver babies. About 10% of those will receive care in the NICU.
NICU nurse Jackie Dicharry, chair of the NICU Patient and Family Advisory Committee that hosts the annual event, said the often monthslong stays allow nurses to build close relationships with families.
“It’s just so rewarding for us to see what happens after the babies go home,” Dicharry said. “It really reminds all of us as NICU staff why we do what we do.”
Purpose in life
Hamdan’s experience did more than change her as a mother. It changed the direction of her life.
She earned her certified nursing assistant certificate in 2024 and is working toward her associate degree in nursing at the Community College of Aurora.
Her goal is to return to a NICU, this time wearing scrubs.
“I want to be able to support families and mothers the way the NICU nurses supported me,” she said. “I want to help someone feel safe, understood, and comforted during one of the hardest times of their life.”
