A preemie's testament to resiliency: Shea's story
When Shea Tufts was born premature at 27 weeks, the Neonatal care team did CPR for 12 nerve-wracking minutes. Now an energetic preschooler, Shea's rocky first months paved the way for her to thrive.
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Dr. Leslie Kerzner is the Associate Medical Director of the Special Care Nursery at MGH. She is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. She is the Director of the Newborn Developmental Follow-up Clinic and the Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) program at MGH. Dr. Kerzner completed a 3 year post-graduate fellowship in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at Women & Infants' Hospital at Brown University (1998-2001). She completed a 2 year residency in Pediatrics and a 1 year internship in Pediatrics/Adult & Child Psychiatry also at Brown University (1995-1998). She attended medical school at the University of Vermont (1995) and received a B.A. in psychology from Boston University (1988). She is board certified in both General Pediatrics and Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine. Dr. Kerzner is certified in the Neonatal Behavioral Observation system and has been a trainer at the Brazelton Institute at Children's Hospital, Boston.
Currently, Dr. Kerzner attends in both the Newborn ICU and Special Care Nurseries at MGH and directs the Newborn Developmental Follow-up Clinic to follow high risk infant development. Clinics are held in Boston Newton, Waltham, and Danvers. Dr. Kerzner directs a multi-disciplinary NAS Working Group to improve the care of families and infants affected by opiate use in pregnancy and NAS. She provides consultation during pregnancy to women who take opiates and has developed protocols for caring for the infants affected by NAS. She runs the Quality Improvement projects related to NAS in the division, and she represents MGH at the state NeoQIC NAS Collaborative and the Vermont Oxford Network national INICQ NAS Collaborative. She sits on the MGH Opioid Task Force and the OB Substance Use Disorder Committee. In 2016, she was appointed to the Advisory Council to Support the Interagency Task Force on Newborns with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome with the MA Executive Office of Health and Human Services.
Clinical Interests:
Treats:
Mass General for Children: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
55 Fruit St.
Boston, MA 02114
Phone: 617-724-4310
Medical Education
American Board Certifications
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Substance Use Disorder in mothers and their infants.
Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome
Marijuana Use in Pregnancy and Lactation
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When Shea Tufts was born premature at 27 weeks, the Neonatal care team did CPR for 12 nerve-wracking minutes. Now an energetic preschooler, Shea's rocky first months paved the way for her to thrive.