New parents eagerly look forward to bringing their baby home, so it can be frightening if your newborn needs to be admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). At first it may seem like a foreign place, but understanding the NICU and what goes on there can help reduce your fears and let you better help your baby.
About the NICU
If your baby is sent to the NICU, your first question probably will be: What is this place? With equipment designed for infants and a hospital staff who have special training in newborn care, the NICU is an intensive care unit created for sick newborns who need specialized treatment.
Sometimes the NICU is also called:
- a special care nursery
- an intensive care nursery
- newborn intensive care
Babies who need to go to the unit are often admitted within the first 24 hours after birth. Babies may be sent to the NICU if:
- they’re born prematurely
- difficulties occur during their delivery
- they show signs of a problem in the first few days of life
Only very young babies (or babies with a condition linked to being born prematurely) are treated in the NICU — they’re usually infants who haven’t gone home from the hospital yet after being born. How long these infants remain in the unit depends on the severity of their illness.