Newborn/Infant Intensive Care Unit
Recognized Excellence
- In 2006, a survey by Child magazine ranked the Newborn/Infant Center at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia number one in the nation.
- The N/IICU at Children's Hospital is a 75-bed state-of-the-art facility that provides the full spectrum of specialized, multidisciplinary intensive care services for newborns and infants as young as 23 weeks gestation and as small as one pound at birth.
- The N/IICU treats the sickest children with the most difficult and complex diagnoses.
- The N/IICU is equipped to provide care for infants with the complete range of neonatal and infant critical illnesses including all types of respiratory, surgical, cardiac, genetic, renal, neurological, hematological and metabolic diseases. Areas of special clinical and research expertise include the management of persistent pulmonary hypertension, bronchopumonary dysplasia and other severe lung disease in newborns, as well as metabolic illnesses, hypoglycemia due to pancreatic abnormalities, complex congenital anomalies and complex post-operative care.
- The N/IICU at Children's Hospital receives approximately 900 admissions per year and serves as a primary referral center for other neonatal intensive care units in the region. The state-of-the-art facility provides care for neonates and infants from more than 80 hospitals representing nine states. In particular, infants with severe chronic lung disease and hyperinsulinism are frequently referred on both the national and international level to the N/IC for highly specialized care.
- The N/IICU team collaborates with the Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to provide the optimal continuum of care for these newborns post-partum. The Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment was established in 1995 and is one of several comprehensive centers worldwide to offer technologically advanced, multidisciplinary care for unborn babies with genetic or anatomical abnormalities.
- The N/IICU staff partners with the Maternal Fetal Medicine Program at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, one of the nation's leading programs in high risk pregnancy and delivery. This collaborative program trains future leaders in clinical care and research.
- The N/IICU at Children's Hospital is a center of excellence for the management of infants with severe chronic lung disease. Many infants admitted to the N/IICU are referred specifically to receive treatment for severe lung disease that is not available at the referring hospital.
- Children's Hospital physician-scientists have made seminal contributions to the field of Neonatology. These include the establishment of two therapies as standard neonatal treatments: prenatal corticosteroids and pulmonary surfactant. Clinicians in the Newborn/Infant Intensive Care Unit are active in many cutting-edge clinical research trials, including investigating the mechanisms involved in fetal lung development, as well as causes and treatment of pulmonary diseases in newborns.
- Children's Hospital's Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) program has provided support to more than 250 infants with severe respiratory failure since its inception in 1990.
- Children's Hospital operates a comprehensive Neonatal Follow-Up Program that monitors the physical and cognitive development of high-risk premature patients well into their childhood years, providing information, education and support for families.
- The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia opened the first Neonatal Surgical Intensive Care Unit in the nation.
- The N/IICU is a center of excellence in family-centered care and support for breastfeeding of infants with serious medical problems. The nursing staff is involved in research and education regarding the use of human milk in high-risk infants and management of breastfeeding failure.
