Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU)
Some babies need help in their first hours, and a few need it for weeks. Our neonatal unit is on the same floor as the labour rooms, so a baby who needs support gets it where they are born. Parents are part of the unit rather than visitors to it.
- On the same floor as the labour rooms
- Ventilator and CPAP support
- Parents welcome in the unit
- Kangaroo care encouraged early
Stay
Days to weeks, depending on the baby
Duration
Continuous care
Anaesthesia
Not applicable
About Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU)
The unit cares for premature babies, babies who are struggling to breathe, those with infection or jaundice needing treatment, and those who cannot yet feed. Care is intensive in the literal sense: continuous monitoring, a high nurse-to-baby ratio and decisions reviewed several times a day. Parents are encouraged to touch, hold and feed as early as it is safe, because it improves feeding and shortens the stay.
- Continuous monitoring with a high nurse-to-baby ratio
- Parents encouraged to touch and hold as early as it is safe
- Kangaroo care improves feeding and temperature control
- Expressed breast milk is given by tube if the baby cannot yet feed
Before you read on
Everything here is general information about neonatal intensive care (nicu). Whether it suits you, and how it would be done in your case, is a decision for your doctor after examining you.
Your consultant's instructions always take precedence over anything written on this page.
When is it recommended?
Situations in which a doctor may suggest neonatal intensive care (nicu).
- Premature or low birth weight babies
- Babies with breathing difficulty at birth
- Jaundice needing phototherapy or more
- Suspected or confirmed newborn infection
- Low blood sugar or feeding difficulty
- Babies needing observation after a difficult delivery
Procedure details
The usual sequence, from first consultation through to follow-up.
Admission and stabilisation
The baby is settled into an incubator or warmer, monitoring is attached and breathing support started if needed.
Daily care
Feeding, temperature, breathing and weight are managed continuously, with the plan reviewed by the neonatologist each day.
Involving parents
You are encouraged into the unit to touch, hold and provide expressed milk as soon as the baby is stable enough.
Moving towards home
Support is reduced step by step. Discharge follows when the baby feeds fully, maintains temperature and is gaining weight.
How to prepare
What to sort out before you come in.
- Admission is usually unplanned, so there is nothing to prepare
- Start expressing milk early if you intend to breastfeed, as the team will show you
- Ask for the daily update time so you receive consistent information
- Bring a notebook, since a great deal is explained over several days
- Rest when you can, because a NICU stay is measured in weeks not hours
Recovery
What to expect afterwards, and roughly when.
- Progress in the NICU is usually gradual rather than dramatic
- Premature babies often stay until close to their original due date
- Feeding is normally the last thing to be established before discharge
- Kangaroo care helps with temperature, feeding and bonding
- Developmental follow-up after discharge is arranged before you leave
Why choose Humayun for neonatal intensive care
For a newborn in difficulty, the distance between the delivery room and the incubator is what matters most.
- The unit on the same floor as the labour rooms, so no newborn is transported between buildings
- A neonatologist present at deliveries known to be high risk
- Parents in the unit, encouraged to hold and feed as early as it is safe
- Feeding and follow-up arranged before discharge rather than at a later appointment
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Structured checks of movement, speech, social interaction and learning, so support can start early where it is needed.
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Paediatric Intensive Care (PICU)
Intensive care for critically ill children needing organ support, continuous monitoring or ventilation.