Your infant's NICU stay

Key POINTS

  • Many different health care providers accept care of your infant in the NICU.

  • Inquire questions about your infant's condition and treatment then you know how your baby's doing.

  • Be involved in your baby'south care in the NICU. Talk with NICU staff about when you can hold and feed your infant.

  • If you have more than than ane baby in the NICU, spend fourth dimension with each one to learn how to care for their needs.

  • Visit shareyourstory.org to get support from other families who have had a baby in the NICU.

What happens when you outset go to the NICU?

The NICU can exist an overwhelming place. Y'all may encounter lots of machines, small-scale babies in incubators (articulate, plastic beds for sick babies), hospital staff and other parents. You lot may:

  • Meet the health care providers taking care of your babe
  • Find out about your baby'due south health and the medical equipment and treatment she needs to become better
  • Detect out when you tin spend time with your baby and participate in her care

Who takes care of your baby in the NICU?

Your infant gets medical intendance in the NICU from many providers. These providers brand upwardly your baby's health intendance team. Every provider on the squad has different skills and is responsible for different parts of your baby's care. Providers on your baby's health care squad may include:

  • Neonatologist. This is a pediatrician who has special medical training to take care of sick newborns. A pediatrician is a doctor who takes intendance of babies and children.
  • Pediatric resident. This is a doctor who is getting medical training to accept care of babies and children.
  • Nurse practitioner (also called NP). An NP is a registered nurse with advanced education and training.
  • Registered nurse (also chosen RN). An RN has instruction and training to give medical care.

Your baby's providers may change throughout your baby's NICU stay. This depends on your baby's condition, the length of fourth dimension your baby is in the NICU and the way the NICU schedules its staff. For example, in some NICUs, one nurse may exist assigned to care for your baby on most days. In other NICUs, your baby may have a dissimilar nurse every day. The doctors may change over time, too. Fifty-fifty if the providers change, everyone on your baby'southward health care team works to give your baby the all-time care possible.

Talk to your babe's providers about your baby'south condition and any tests and treatments she may need. If you can't go to the NICU because of your ain condition after giving birth, telephone call the NICU and inquire to speak to a provider on her health care team.

How can you care for your baby in the NICU?

You tin can be part of your babe's intendance in the NICU. When your infant is set, you lot tin can hold him, feed him, bathe him and change his diaper. You may be able to take his temperature and aid weigh him. It's OK if you feel nervous nearly doing these things. Your babe's nurses can show you what to do.

You can hold your baby even if he's connected to medical equipment. It may take time and practise for you lot and your baby to go comfortable. If you lot haven't been able to hold your infant, inquire the nurses how yous can affect and condolement him.

How can you care for multiples in the NICU?

Having one baby in the NICU is challenging plenty. So having multiples (twins, triplets or more than) in the NICU tin be even more than enervating. You may feel overwhelmed, similar there'due south not plenty of you to become effectually. You may worry about which infant needs y'all more.

Here's what you can practise to help y'all take care of more than one baby in the NICU:

  • Spend time with each infant. Each 1 has her own personality and needs. Spending time with each babe tin help you learn their cues so you know what works to soothe each one. Cues are signals your babe gives to allow y'all know how she feels and what she needs.
  • Trust yourself to give each baby what he needs. Once yous first learning your baby'due south cues, yous'll know how to care for each ane and not feel so torn between them. Yous'll know what each one needs on any given day or fifty-fifty hr by hour.
  • Wash your easily with soap and water or use hand sanitizer before and between touching each baby. Making sure your hands are make clean helps protect your babies and other babies in the NICU from serious infections.
  • Enquire friends and family members for help, peculiarly if your babies are in unlike rooms in the NICU or if one infant goes habitation earlier the other.
  • Check the NICU rules about bringing a infant back to the NICU when you're spending fourth dimension with a baby still in the hospital.

What happens when you get dwelling from the hospital but your baby has to stay in the NICU?

As a parent, it can exist hard to get out your baby in the hospital. You lot may alive far abroad or have to get back to work right after your baby is born. Or you may have older children at home to take care of. You may not exist able to spend equally much fourth dimension as you'd like with your baby. If y'all don't alive close to the NICU, enquire the staff about free or low-cost hotels in the surface area for NICU parents. And some NICUs have rooms for parents to sleep in.

What do you lot tell people virtually your baby'south status?

Many people may ask how your baby is doing. How much you tell people well-nigh your baby's condition is your choice. You lot can tell them as much or every bit little as you want. If you're non sure exactly what to say, just say that your baby is in intensive care and you're taking things day by day. If you don't want to talk, you lot can thank people for their business but tell them that you don't want to talk about it right at present.

A lot of parents use social media and blogs to update family members and friends near their baby. Visit shareyourstory.org, the March of Dimes online community for families. Yous tin can web log about your baby on this website and get condolement, support and information from other NICU parents.

Meet too: shareyourstory.org

Last reviewed: January, 2019