A neonatal nurse in Massachusetts has formally adopted Pamela, a girl she first treated after the baby was born with drug exposure and needed specialist care. The case highlights how medical staff and foster-care arrangements can provide stability for children whose parents are unable to care for them.

Nora Lussier, who works in Beverly Hospital’s Special Care Nursery, took Pamela home with her husband Martin after a planned foster placement could not proceed because the child required a feeding tube. Pamela underwent surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital before joining the couple in Salem, and the adoption was finalised two years later.