Understanding the Need for a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Selecting a Pregnancy Hospital

Every parent expects to take their baby home in the time following birth. It is an exciting and life-altering moment that you look forward to savouring with the privacy of your family in the comfort of your home. This is however not always the case as there are few cases where the baby has to be admitted in the neonatal intensive care unit for one reason or the other. This is why you must always choose a pregnancy hospital that can offer you a full set of services so that you can easily access them as and when you need them. 

What Is The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit?

The NICU is also known as the intensive care nursery. It is an intensive care unit that is specially designed to cater for premature and new-born babies. The first ICU was unveiled in 1960 and ever since then the unit has gone through several transformations leading up to the latest hi-tech set up.  Modern pregnancy hospitals feature this top of the range option which can make the difference for your child. Those vital minutes that you spend transferring your child from a pregnancy hospital without an intensive care unit to one that has it can bring sad news to the new parents. 

The Paediatric intensive Care Unit (PICU) is under the directorship of one or more PICU Consultants or Paediatric Intensivists and also features doctors, nurses, physician assistants, respiratory therapists, nurse practitioners and more. These people work as a cohesive force that is there to make a difference when it matters most. The unit avails round the clock extraordinary care and the experts who man it have the strong backing of training and experience in the provision of intensive care. 

Your baby will need to go through a number of adjustments after leaving the womb. Suddenly the baby finds itself in a situation wherein it can no longer rely on the mother’s placenta and circulation and has to make it on its own. Before birth, vital functions such as breathing, eating, waste elimination and immunologic protection all come from the mother. The sudden change occasioned by birth causes many body systems to instantly change the way they have worked for months. This is why some vital organs and systems may need time and help in making this adjustment and cope with the outside environment. It is a perfectly naturally response which is why an ICU is nothing to be scared of.