NICU Stays
In the UK, 1 in 7 babies are admitted to NICU or a neonatal unit, here is some helpful information.
So you've heard of NICU but don't really understand it? That's completely understandable, a lot of people have no idea what NICU is until they experience it for themselves, we are here to try help you to understand what NICU is and what that means for you.
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
That is what NICU stands for, the section in a hospital that is home to many premature and sick babies, but they aren't always just premature and sick babies in the NICU.
The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) provide top of the notch, 24/7 care to babies who have entered the unit. They have specifically trained Nurses, Doctors and Consultants who look after these tiny babies with state of the art equipment, designed specifically for babies who are in the unit.
Some of the things they do in the NICU are:
Monitor Vital Signs: Nurses do this by watching your babies O2 (Oxygen) and Heart Rate Saturations on a monitor that is connected to your baby via wires. They can also do this by taking what's called a "Blood Gas", They get one of these by using a small needle to prick your babies heel of their foot and collect the blood with a thin, small tube and take it to their machine which then tells them important blood results, including (but not only), CO2, Blood Sugar Levels, and your babies lactate levels. All of these things help Nurses understand how stable your baby is.
Administering Different Treatments: To administer different treatments, the Nurses must have either a cannula or 'long line' in the baby, and connecting them to one or more IV fluids that will intravenously go into your child, that could be anything ranging from Antibiotic to fight an infection, Morphine to stop your baby from being in pain and distressed, and/or IV fluids to help babies calorie intake. Sometimes medications can be administered via oral medications that are mixed with your babies milk.
Did you know there are 3 different 'level' NICU's, all have different levels of care.
There are many different reasons why a baby may be in the NICU, such as:
Premature Birth: A baby born before 37 weeks gestation is more likely to encounter complications that need to be sorted in the NICU.
Jaundice: Jaundice is an extremely common condition in babies after birth, and sometimes, said babies will require laying under a blue therapy light in the NICU to cure their Jaundice.
Low Birth Weight: Smaller babies are more liable to illnesses and infection, which their small bodies may not be able to fight off without help from the NICU.
Surgery: If a baby requires Surgery when they are born it will (9 times out of 10) mean they need to heal and recover in the NICU.
Infections: Newborn's are more prone to catching an infection which may require intervention and help from the NICU.
Breathing Problems: Sometimes Babies are born with an issue regarding their breathing, meaning they may have to spend an hour to a day or more in the NICU until the problem is resolved. Sometimes babies are required to go home with extra oxygen after the NICU to help with their breathing at home.
Difficulties During Birth: Birth can be an incredibly traumatic time for a baby, suddenly going from their warm and cosy home in mummy's belly to the cold air of the hospital. Sometimes when a birth isn't as simple as pushing the baby out, and there are extra factors, this can take a toll on the baby and mean the baby requires extra support from the NICU.
Feeding Struggles: Often, when a baby is born they may struggle to latch. Whether that to the nipple or to a bottle teet. This can be pretty common considering your baby just spent all that time in your/your partners tummy getting fed via a tap the whole time, so when it comes to them having to proactively work to get their milk, they can sometimes get confused. Due to this, your baby may need to spend some time in the NICU with a feeding tube until they can figure out how to latch.
Multiples Birth: More often than realised, Twins or Triplets (or more!) will need to come out of the womb earlier than a singleton pregnancy, due to different complication risks that are higher when carrying multiples, (these complications can be found on our multiple pregnancy page!) So they come out prematurely and need to spend time in NICU for the reason stated in the first point.
No matter why your baby is in NICU, we are sure one thing unites parents and families, and that is the anxiety you may experience when your loved one is in NICU. One of our aims as a charity is providing support to parents and families and raising awareness to different issues that may require medical intervention and stays in a NICU. Information is power, and the more parents and families are informed, the more equipped they are to deal with the journey.
