Medicaid expansion means North Carolina's working poor can go to the doctor for free. It also means billions in new federal funding for hospitals.

After 14 years, billions to flow as 600,000 qualify for Medicaid insurance in NC

More than half a million North Carolinians now qualify for Medicaid 

Our experts on parenting, frugal living and the best that the Triangle has to offer have scoured their sources and shopped the stores (and the internet) for the best suggestions for your holiday giving. No matter the age or interest, you'll find gift ideas here.

WRAL 2023 Holiday Gift Guide

NICU Coverage

Hundreds of patients' families made their way to the event, which was made to see how the hospital's tiniest patients have grown.

AS WELL. UNFORTUNATELY, UNC CHAPEL HILL AND NC STATE ARE NOT PARTICIPATING. WELL, THE TRIANGLE'S FIRST IN NICU NICU UNIT CELEBRATED 50 YEARS TODAY WITH THE BON REUNION. >> JUST TAKE A LOOK AT ALL THE PEOPLE WHO CAME OUT HUNDREDS OF PATIENTS FROM OVER THE YEARS AND THEIR FAMILIES MADE THEIR WAY TO WAKE MED THIS AFTERNOON FOR THE EVENT. >> NOW IT'S SERVED AS A SPACE TO BRING FAMILIES AND STAFF TOGETHER TO SEE HOW THE HOSPITAL'S TINIEST PATIENTS >> IT REALLY DOES OUR HEARTS GOOD AND BUILDS US UP TO SEE ALL THESE FAMILIES THRIVING ALL THESE KIDDOS WHO, YOU KNOW, RENEW AS TINY LITTLE HAVE NOW GOT BIG AND IT JUST TO SEE WHAT THEY'VE ALL GONE ON TO DO YOU ANY TIME YOU CAN SEE IN OUR COMMUNITY COME BACK TOGETHER AND DRIVING AND DOING WELL. THAT'S THAT. THAT'S WHY WE'RE >> ALL THOSE IN ATTENDANCE WERE ABLE TO ENJOY REFRESHMENTS CARNIVAL GAMES, ARTS AND CRAFTS

WakeMed's NICU celebrates 50-year anniversary with reunion event

 WakeMed now celebrates 50 years of its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and all the families it has served.

<p>AIR SPECTRUM 12 57 OR IN THE WRAL APP ON YOUR SMART TV AND MOBILE DEVICE. A WAKE MED NOW CELEBRATES 50 YEARS OF THEIR NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT AND ALL THE FAMILIES IS SERVED. THE HOSPITAL WAS AMONG THE PIONEERS IN ADVANCING CARE FOR PREMATURE INFANTS. WRAL'S MICHELLE MACKONOCHIE SHOWS. &gt;&gt; HOW NICK USE HAVE EVOLVED TO SAVE MORE YOUNG LIVES. &gt;&gt; WHEN WAKE MED FIRST OPENED IN 1961, THIS SCIENCE OF CARE FOR PREMATURE INFANTS WAS WELL STILL IN ITS INFANCY. NEWBORNS UNDER 2 POUNDS, RARELY SURVIVED ONE OUT OF 10, ONE OUT OF 20. &gt;&gt; WITH SURVIVE AT THAT SIZE. AND NOWADAYS, BABIES THAT WEIGHED 2 POUNDS. &gt;&gt; WELL, MOST OFTEN BY DOCTOR JAMES PERCH OF KANTE SAYS BEFORE 1972 HOSPITAL, PEDIATRICIANS WERE FEW THE VERY BEGINNING. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE OBSTETRICIAN WHO THINK THEIR MOM WOULD ALSO TAKE CARE OF BABY A YEAR LATER WAKE-MED OPENED 2 SMALL ROOMS. THE FIRST NURSERIES C PAP MACHINES CAME INTO USE WITH PRESSURIZED AIR FOR PREMATURE BABIES THAT MADE THE BIG DIFFERENCE IN SURVIVAL AND BY HAVING C PAP. &gt;&gt; A LOT OF THESE BABIES THAT WERE BORN TO 3 MONTHS EARLY COULD NOW SURVIVAL CAN SURVIVE BEFORE NEONATAL VENTILATORS WERE INTRODUCED. &gt;&gt; PURCHASE. CONTE SAYS THE NEXT GREAT ADVANCE WAS THE HUMAN TOUCH. NOWADAYS. WE REALIZE THAT HAVING THAT. &gt;&gt; PARENTS, THEY'RE REALLY MAKES A DIFFERENCE. AND SO IF YOU CAN START RIGHT THE TIME OF BIRTH AND HAVE MOM AND DAD HOLD THE BABY AND YOU CAN DO THAT THROUGHOUT. THAT'S BETTER THAN ALL THE TECHNOLOGY IN THE WORLD. BABY FORMULA WAS WIDELY IN USE, BUT WAKE-MED PLAYED IN EARLY KEY ROLE IN DEVELOPING MILK. BANKS RECEIVING DONATED MOTHER'S MILK TO SHARE WITH THOSE IN NEED CAN. SO THAT IS REALLY KIND OF NEED THAT. THAT WAS THE &gt;&gt; FIRST MILK BANK IN THE AREA FOR A LONG TIME. IT WAS ONE OF 9 IN THE WHOLE COUNTRY. MILK BANKS NOW PROVIDE DONATED MILK ACROSS THE STATE AND UP AND DOWN THE EAST COAST. &gt;&gt; FOR CHUCK ON ENJOY SEEING THE BENEFITS FIRSTHAND IN THE LIVES OF NOW GROWN WAKE-MED CHILDREN. AND SO TO SEE YOU. &gt;&gt; HOW WELL THEY'VE DONE OVER THE YEARS WHEN I JUST KNEW THEM WHEN THEY WERE VERY ACUTELY SECOND, THE BEGINNING. AND NOW HERE THEY ARE HAVE A NORMAL CHILDHOOD. &gt;&gt; MICHELLE MACKONOCHIE WRAL NEWS AND DOCTOR PRITCHARD KIANTE EMPHASIZES THAT PROVIDING MILK RATHER THAN FORMULA ACTUALLY IMPROVES THE</p>

WakeMed ICU celebrates 50 years  

WakeMed NICU turns 50 

A NICU nurse describes how she saved three babies from the rubble of a hospital, and ran three miles with them in her arms. Her heroic act was captured in images that have gone viral. 

more than a week after the heart of Beirut was shattered. Pamela's a Noon takes us back to the day her world blew up. New video inside Beirut. ST. George's Hospital shows the moment of the blast. Pamela and Nick, you nurse, was at her desk and I heard something very loud. The ground started taking on there and everything came crumbling them. She crawled out. What is my baby's head of the baby? I couldn't see them because all the ladies were covered with rubble. I have them. I just connected them and they have them when and went through the floor out alongside a doctor. She ran three miles through the devastation to find a working hospital. People started coming to me, asking me, How can we help you? I call them. Please just give me peace. It's anything you could take off and give it to me. So I could. It has The baby's absolutely Tuesday, a temperature. And when she got there, there was only one incubator left. We're all OK. They were all being there. They were all asleep at that moment, so I felt it a moment of peace when I had them back in this incubator. Two of the babies Pamela saved were triplets Seda and Ali. Their sisters are a discharged. Last week, their mother says they feared the worst. She found the only way to express this kind of thanks. And they were the lucky ones. There was 1/3 baby, Noah. He also survived is also still doing well. This, as the death toll is nearly 200 people, more than 6000 people injured. The damage there is estimated at more than $15 billion. In all of those people that were watching, clean up the streets, clear the damage. Those are volunteers and NGOs, not the government. Molly Hunter, NBC News London.

NICU nurse saves three babies from hospital rubble in Beirut, runs miles with them in her arms

Nicu nurse saves babies

Dr. Marie Ambroise Thigpen has a thing for babies.



Bittersweet: What it's like working with babies in the NICU at UNC REX

Dr. Marie Ambroise Thigpen

A couple that loss both their mothers at an early age give care packages and gift cards to mothers who have babies being treated at the NICU at Duke Hospital.

TODAY, INSTEAD THE UNIVERSITIES ARE SHARING RECORDED CEREMONIES THAT STUDENTS CAN WATCH.>>> FOR THOSE WHO HAVE LOST A MOTHER, MOTHER'S DAY CAN BE TOUGH, BUT A COUPLE HAS FOUND A WAY TO HONOR MOTHERS BY HELPING OTHER MOMS, LOSING MOTHERS AT AN EARLY AGE, THEY DECIDED TO START THE MOTHER'S DAY PROJECT, CARE PACKAGES AND GIFT CARDS, BABIES BEING TREATED, OFTEN, THEY FIELD QUESTIONS FROM OTHERS ASKING HOW THEY CAN HELP MOTHERS AS WELL.>> Reporter: CALL THE HOSPITAL AND ASK YOU A GOOD CONTACT IS, OR WHO NEEDS HELP IN THE HOSPITAL, IS NOT GETTING ENOUGH LOVE THESE DAYS.

Mother's Day Project surprises new moms

They say heroes wear capes. Although Michelle Clements wears scrubs and she spends most of her time at work taking care of others -- not to mention she's also a mom, grandmother and student.

Local NICU nurse does it all

Michelle Clements

WRAL's Leslie Moreno introduces users to one of many local nurses, going above and beyond.

DAYS HER MESSAGE FOR OTHER >>> TODAY IS A NATIONAL NURSES DAY, A DAY TO HONOR THOSE KEEPING A SAFE ESPECIALLY DURING THESE TIMES AND LESLIE MORENO INTRODUCES US TO ONE OF MANY LOCAL NURSES GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND>>REPORTER: THEY SAY THAT HEROES WEAR CAPES AND THIS ONE WEARS SCRUBS AND WEARS THEM SPENDING MOST OF HER DAYS TAKING CARE OF OTHERS AND ALTHOUGH MICHELLE CLEMENTS WORKS WITH THE TINIEST OF PATIENTS SHE DOES HAVE A BIG RESPONSIBILITY NOT TO MENTION SHE'S ALSO A MOM, GRANDMOTHER AND STUDENT.>> OH MY GOODNESS, IT STARTS AROUND 4 AM AND BY THE TIME I FINISH IT IS SOMEWHERE AROUND NINE OR 10 AT NIGHT.>> MICHELLE HAS BEEN WORKING HARD TO MAKE SURE ALL OF THE BABIES AND FAMILIES FEEL SAFE AND BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC ACCESS IS LIMITED IN THE NICU. >> WOULD HAVE TO PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO THE EMOTIONAL SUPPORT OF OUR FAMILIES AND THEY ARE COMING AND IT IS A NEVER-ENDING EASY EXPERIENCE TO COME HERE BUT IT IS PARTICULARLY MORE SCARY FOR FAMILIES WHEN THEY ARE FACED WITH A PANDEMIC.>> ACTUALLY THESE NURSES PROVIDE THAT COMFORT WHEN FAMILY MEMBERS CANNOT BE THERE AND MICHELLE LOVES WHAT SHE DOES BUT IT CAN BE OVERWHELMING.>> AT THE SAME TIME THEY HAVE HAD SAUCES THAT HAVE BEEN LAID OFF AND THEY HAVE CHILDREN WHO WORK ALL NIGHT AND THEY GO HOME AND THEY NOW BECOME A TEACHER OF THEIR CHILDREN>> ALTHOUGH THESE ARE DIFFICULT TIMES FOR HEALTHCARE WORKERS THEY HAVE EACH OTHER TO LEAN ON AND THE REST OF US TO CHEER THEM ON.>> I AM JUST ONE PERSON AND I'M SURROUNDED BY SO MANY PEOPLE AND I HOPE THAT WHAT I HAVE SHARED TODAY WILL LET YOU KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF US OUT THERE THAT ARE GRATEFUL FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE AND WE HOPE THIS WILL END>> MICHELLE SAYS SHE SEES ALL OF YOUR MESSAGES AND ALL THE THANK YOUSE TO HEALTH CARE WORKERS AND SHE SAYS THAT IS WHAT KEEPS HER GOING.>> NURSES, NURTURERS

National Nurses Day: Day to honor nurses

Day to honor nurses

When a baby is born premature, the long nights and days in the hospital are agonizing. Often parents are living moment to moment. One father from Florida decided to dance the stress away and is sharing his moves on social media.

Fla. father dances stress away

A faux-bearded Santa strokes the forehead of a prematurely born baby in the neonatal intensive care unit at Mayo Clinic Hospital.

Santa visits Mayo Clinic Hospital NICU

Santa visits Mayo Clinic NICU

The UNC-Rex Birth Center is looking for volunteers for a rewarding job -- cuddling a newborn baby in their neonatal intensive care unit.



Cuddles needed: UNC-Rex seeks volunteers to snuggle newborn babies