We Give Babies Tender Loving Care!

When you come to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Lankenau Hospital, you can be confident that you and your newborn are in the best hands. Our unit is staffed by a team of medical professionals, each with a specific role in maintaining the health and well-being of you and your baby.

Neonatologists
Neonatologists are pediatricians specially-trained in the area of newborn medicine. The full-time neonatologists share responsibilities of patient care and provide in-hospital coverage 24 hours a day, seven days a week. for premature babies and seriously ill newborns. 

Physician specialists
In addition to the neonatologist, specialists in pediatric neurology, cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, ophthalmology, urology, and surgery support the NICU staff with expertise in these areas, as needed. Additional pediatric specialists from other pediatric centers in the region are also available on a consultative basis. Physicians in the hospital’s diagnostic departments of Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Pathology provide ongoing services in evaluating patients.

Neonatal Nurse Practitioners
These specially-trained NICU nurses work under the direct supervision of the neonatologist. Their advanced training allows them to help manage the care of the infant, as well as to perform many of the similar procedures performed by the neonatologists.

Nurses
NICU nurses are specially-educated and experienced in the care of high-risk and premature infants. The primary care nurse plans an infant’s care with the neonatologist, the parents, and other healthcare professionals.

Therapists
Respiratory systems of infants in the NICU are often adversely affected by prematurity and serious illness. Registered respiratory therapists are available around the clock to aid in this important aspect of treatment. They perform aerosol and chest physiotherapy, assist the neonatologists and nursing staff with the management of ventilator care, and are responsible for the maintenance of all respiratory equipment.

If a baby requires a prolonged hospital stay, registered physical, speech and occupational therapists are called upon to assist in the infant’s developmental progress by planning exercise programs to be carried out by the nursing staff on a regular basis.

Counselors
A social worker counsels and directs parents to other helpful community resources. In addition to serving as coordinator of parent support groups, the social worker directly counsels individual parents to help them cope with the emotional stress and practical problems associated with having a baby in the NICU.

Developmental Specialists
These specialists assess the level of development of premature infants. Any child who may be at risk for developmental delays will be evaluated through the first two years of life. Through the Neurodevelopment Follow-up Program, infants and toddlers are assessed every three months for achievement of developmental milestones. Infants who demonstrate difficulties are referred for early intervention, a state-funded therapy support service.

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