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Home › Articles › Preemies › A Tour of the NICU

A Tour of the NICU

Everything You Need to Know About the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

By Katherine Bontrager

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Smith urges parents not to hesitate to confer with the professionals treating their child. "Parents need to ask questions, and write questions down if they are having trouble remembering what they are concerned about," she says. "Ask for a family meeting of the whole team so parents understand the goals of treatment and anticipated issues that may arise."

Dr. Devaskar acknowledges that with so many professionals treating the child, it can be a challenge keeping track of what each is doing – not to mention finding the most up-to-date and accurate information on your child's well-being. She recommends going to a point person for this information, someone who knows the plan of care. This person is generally the neonatologist who's in charge of the entire care plan of the baby.

"While other physicians may be engaged in the baby's care, it's usually limited to a particular organ or system, while the neonatologist provides the overall umbrella of care," Dr. Devaskar says. "Make sure to have ongoing meetings with the neonatologist in charge."

Your Role in the NICU

With all the hard work of the healthcare team and the constant whirring of machines, it can be easy for a parent to feel like there's nothing left to do. But every parent can provide important help while their child is in the NICU.

"I would advise parents to talk to their baby," Anderson says. "Infants recognize your voice; they're not used to looking at you or feeling you, but they're accustomed to the voice of both parents. All parents have varying amounts of other potential responsibilities including other children or life challenges. It's important to visit your infant every day if you can, but if that's impossible, taping your voice so your infant can hear you even when you're not there is an option."


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