Front and Center: Dawn Eifling

Front and Center: Dawn Eifling

For Dawn Eifling, supporting families in the neonatal intensive care unit means being present through uncertainty, celebrating progress and sitting with parents through moments of profound grief.

As a social worker at Children's of Mississippi, Eifling has spent 25 years helping families navigate the emotional and practical challenges of having a critically ill newborn at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Her work requires compassion, patience and the ability to recognize what a family needs, even when there are no easy answers.

"Dawn's 25 years of service in the NICU reflect an extraordinary commitment to the babies and families who depend on Children's," said Dr. Mary Taylor, Suzan B. Thames Chair and CEO of Children's of Mississippi. "Her compassion, experience and dedication have made a lasting difference in the lives of families navigating some of the most difficult moments they will ever face. Her work is an important part of the support and care we provide to Mississippi's youngest patients and their families."

For Eifling, the desire to help others began at home.

"My parents had a big part in me becoming a social worker," Eifling said. "They were very benevolent people, and I saw their role model growing up, whether it was at church or just people that they came across on a daily basis. I saw them make a difference and help people."

After spending two years working in a NICU in Monroe, Louisiana, Eifling and her family decided to return to Mississippi. Joining UMMC was a homecoming in more ways than one. Her father, Darrell Blaylock, graduated from the UMMC School of Medicine in 1962 and practiced medicine for nearly 50 years. Her sister also received care at UMMC for Type 1 diabetes.

Eifling found her place in the NICU and has remained there ever since.

"It's a calling," she said. "I just love mamas and babies. I just have a special place in my heart for them."

For families whose babies arrive prematurely or develop serious medical conditions, a NICU admission can turn life upside down. Eifling helps parents adjust to circumstances they may never have anticipated, preparing them for what lies ahead while supporting them through the highs and lows of their baby's hospital stay.

"We work to help them embrace that this is their new normal for the time being," she said. "We try to help them navigate the ups and downs and the good days and the bad days."

When a baby's condition is critical and the outcome is uncertain, Eifling encourages parents to take things one hour, one day or even one minute at a time. When families experience loss, she follows their lead, offering conversation when they want to talk and quiet companionship when words are not enough.

"If they want to sit in silence, I'll sit in silence. If they want to talk, we talk," she said.

Lacey Nelson, social work manager, said Eifling does not shy away from difficult moments. Instead, she creates a safe space for families to process their experiences, ask hard questions and receive support without feeling pressured to respond in a particular way.

"She has an incredible intuition for what the family needs at any given hour," Nelson said.

That ability to meet families where they are extends to how Eifling approaches grief. She recognizes that every family brings different experiences, expectations and circumstances to the NICU, and she strives to support parents without judgment.

"You don't ever know where someone's coming from and what they've experienced," Eifling said. "I really try hard not to judge where these people are coming from because I don't know where they're coming from."

Eifling's influence also extends to the colleagues who work alongside her. In an environment where the emotional demands can be intense, her supervisor describes her as a grounding presence for both social workers and clinical staff.

With a quarter-century of experience in the NICU, Eifling is also a resource for incoming social workers, helping them develop clinical skills while modeling how to maintain boundaries and resilience in a high-crisis environment.

Nelson said Eifling demonstrates that years of working around critical illness and loss do not have to diminish a person's compassion.

"Even after 25 years, you don't have to harden your heart to survive," Nelson said. "She's always remained a soft person, compassionate and deeply invested in the families."

The work can bring extraordinary highs and devastating lows, making the support of colleagues essential. Eifling said her team recognizes the emotional demands of the job and gives one another room to talk, step away or process difficult experiences in their own way.

"There's some really high highs and some really low lows," she said. "But just kind of being there for each other and acknowledging how difficult the work that we do is."

After 25 years in the NICU, Eifling continues to find purpose in helping families through experiences that can change their lives. Whether parents are celebrating progress or facing an uncertain future, she strives to ensure they have someone beside them as they navigate the journey.