NICU…never heard of it?

I may be a little technical here, but I realize that not everyone knows what an NICU is. I can say that before 2019 I had no idea how it worked and what to expect, let alone how it looked like. I didn’t have anybody in my immediate circle that went through this so it was a learning curve for me as well. I don’t want to assume that anybody reading this knows what I’m talking about. 

Before talking more about the NICU, here are some quick facts from the World Health Organization on prematurity:

• Every year, an estimated 15 million babies are born preterm (before 37 completed weeks of gestation), and this number is rising.
• Preterm birth complications are the leading cause of death among children under 5 years of age, responsible for approximately 1 million deaths in 2015 (1).
• Three-quarters of these deaths could be prevented with current, cost-effective interventions.
• Across 184 countries, the rate of preterm birth ranges from 5% to 18% of babies born.

For people not familiar with the acronym, NICU stands for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. It’s a section in an hospital that provides care to sick or premature babies.

Prematurity also has subcategories based on the baby’s gestational age at birth. 

• extremely preterm (less than 28 weeks)
• very preterm (28 to 32 weeks)
• moderate to late preterm (32 to 37 weeks)

 In my case, my daughter required time in the NICU because she was born extremely preterm (also referred to as a micro-preemie) at 25 weeks.

I know depending on the hospital the room setup can vary significantly. My daughter had a single room; which allowed me to have some type of privacy considering the circumstances. The rooms in my specific NICU had the incubator, a bench (pretty comfortable, spent many days and night there), a mini fridge (not for food but for milk or medication) and some rooms had a pullout chair that could fully extend as a bed. From my talk with other parents, I also know that some hospitals have a big room instead shared by a couple of babies and a curtain used for privacy.

You should note that the setup I just described is typical to North American NICUs.  

What can you expect there?

Before I get to the equipment, know that you will SANITIZE and wash your hands ALL the time. When I say all the time it’s really all day long if you spend long hours there. Before you enter the room, when you enter the room, before you hold your baby, after holding your baby or anytime you touch something such as phone, keys. 

If you ever find yourself in the NICU, you will encounter various machines and it can be very intimidating and overwhelming.

Just to name a few, here are only some of the ones that were used for my daughter throughout her stay:

• apnea monitor
• Arterial line
• Bili light
• Blood pressure monitor
• cardiopulmonary monitor
• Central line
• CPAP
• Feeding tube
• Ventilator
• Nasal Canula
• NG tube
• Incubator

You can find a great explanation of them and more here.

It may seem like a lot but trust me you get familiar with them eventually start recognizing them and learn their function.