Neonatal Intensive Care Unit - Indications, Functions, and Precautions

The neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is a nursery care unit in hospital settings that specializes in around-the-clock care of ill and premature newborns. The four levels of the NICU are the following.

Level 1- Well newborn nursery.

Level 2- Special care nursery.

Level 3- neonatal intensive care unit.

Level 4- regional neonatal intensive care unit.

The expansion of the ICU is an intensive care unit, while the NICU is the neonatal intensive care unit. ICU care units are designed to care for critically ill adult people requiring emergency and intensive care. In the same way, the NICU is for neonates. So, this provides critical and intensive medical care for newborns with complicated health ailments such as genetic disorders, congenital anomalies, and preterm births.

The expansion for the NICU is a neonatal intensive care unit. Newborns with problems like premature birth, challenging birth, and health problems are taken to the hospital’s nursery care, called the neonatal intensive care unit. The newborns receive around-the-clock support and care from a multidisciplinary team of experts. The newborns with these problems move to the NICU within the first 24 hours of birth.

The neonatal intensive care unit provides nursery care for newborns who have prenatal complications during delivery. In addition, newborns with genetic conditions and congenital defects are sent to the NICU within the first day of birth. Newborns who are born at a gestational age below 37 weeks and more than 42 weeks can be taken to the NICU.

The following are the common objectives for neonatal ICU.

- Providing complete physical, mental, and emotional support.

- Promote the health status of the newborn.

- NICU includes evaluation for the requirement of resuscitation and complete physical examination.

- Provides prophylactic medicines and vaccines.

- Provides adequate feeding.

- Enhances safe sleep, good hygiene, and other vital aspects of the newborn's well-being.

Admission and treatment in neonatal intensive care units provide full-time care by an expert neonatologist to improve outcomes in suspected medical emergencies. According to national research, the family could spend about $5,000 on NICU stays. The cost of a stay in the NICU could also change according to the gestational age and whether the newborn is preterm or full-term.

The average neonatal weight of a full-term newborn at nearly 40 weeks of pregnancy is about 7 to 7.5 pounds, but it depends on determinants like race and ethnicity. A newborn who is born before 37 weeks of pregnancy is considered to be born too early and is known as a premature baby. The premature newborn weighs nearly 5 pounds or sometimes markedly less.

Premature newborns and newborns with health issues are shifted to the neonatal intensive care unit. The stays in the NICU could last for months, depending on the condition, gestational age, and emergency response. The premature or sick newborns in the NICU encounter a much greater frequency of painful and invasive treatments. On average, premature babies could undergo several unpleasant and painful exposures every 24 hours for their first several weeks of life.

The NICU is an intensive and critical care unit designed for newborns who are born preterm or with certain health issues. Parents could visit the newborns in the NICU and spend time with them. However, parents are generally not allowed to stay in the NICU. But, it depends upon the hospital facility. Some hospitals might provide a vacant room in their concern for the parents to stay.

Premature babies and babies with certain genital defects stay in the NICU for about six months, right from the first day of birth. Generally, preterm newborns do not cry as much as full-term newborns. The sick and premature babies could feel pain and stress in the NICU, so that they might be crying or making jerky movements. But, the babies could cry more as they get older.

Premature newborns and babies with less weight and health issues are cared for under the supervision of expert neonatologists in the NICU. If the baby is too small or ill, parents might be unable to hold them. But, the parents can still visit and touch them in the neonatal intensive care unit. However, one should be gentle and conscientious while touching premature or sick babies in the NICU.

Premature newborns and babies with less weight and health issues are cared for under the supervision of expert neonatologists in the NICU. If the baby is too small or ill, parents might be unable to hold them. But, the parents can still visit and touch them in the neonatal intensive care unit. However, one should be gentle and conscientious while touching premature or sick babies in the NICU.

Infants born before 32 weeks and those weighing 5 pounds or less might require help breathing. They will usually be moved to the NICU and cared for by the experts until they possess enough ability to survive on their own. Premature newborns stay in the NICU until there are significant organ development changes. Preterm and sick newborns require special needs and care in the NICU to survive.

Most newborns admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit are preterm according to their gestation age. So, they would usually be born prior to 37 weeks of pregnancy. Preterm newborns possess a low birth weight of about 5 pounds or markedly less than that. They also might have certain health problems requiring special needs and care. The preterm newborns would be in smaller sizes with thin, shiny, red skin. The veins can be visible through the skin.

The neonatal intensive care unit could be noisy. This can sometimes make it hard for premature and ill newborns to sleep well. Still, the NICU tries even harder to keep things calm. The sound levels in neonatal intensive care units generally range between 7 to 120 dab. It could often exceed the maximum acceptable range of 45 dB. So, many hospitals have made the NICU setting a quiet environment, promoting the health and well-being of newborns.

The babies from the neonatal intensive care unit are generally shifted to a special care nursery. So, the newborns get stronger and healthier and are sent to the special care nursery. A special care nursery is a nursery setting in which experts and medical staff closely monitor the infants ensuring their growth and well-being.