Postnatal Care - Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU)

 

NICU has 23 cots including six intensive care cots, six high dependency cots and 11 special care cots. We also have three mother and baby rooms, allowing for transitional care for well mothers and their growing pre-term infants. Mothers and their families are also offered counselling if they need it.

 

Deliveries are increasing, currently nearly 4000 annually with approximately 400 admissions to the NICU.

 

One in nine babies born in the UK spends at least a few days in a neonatal unit. Our maternity service incorporates a specialist neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) which cares for sick and premature babies born from 27 weeks onwards.

 

Seven neonatal consultants oversee the care of babies by our dedicated team of specialist nurses, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, dietitians, clinical psychologists, safeguarding specialists and pharmacists. We work together as a team to ensure that every baby receives the best possible care, tailored to them.

 

Our nursing team includes a practice educator and a clinical skills trainer who make sure our team is always up to date with the latest research and best practice ways of caring for sick and premature babies.

 

Neonatal outpatient services incorporate antenatal counselling provided jointly with obstetricians, general and developmental neonatal follow up, and neonatal new patient referrals.

 

Our unit is part of the North Central and East London Neonatal Operational Delivery Network. We participate in joint perinatal working in clinical areas with obstetricians and midwives and shared research projects both within the network and nationally.

 

 

Our clinical team includes neonatal consultants, specialist registrars and neonatal nurses, supported by dietitians, speech and language therapists, child psychotherapists and physiotherapists.

 

 

Adesegun Oremule

 

We have well developed links with our community colleagues, nursing teams and paediatric doctors, providing seamless and coordinated care from hospital to home. Many families are also able to receive ongoing care with the therapists already known to them from the unit.

 

 

Babies born at The Whittington Hospital in need of neonatal care are admitted to our unit.

 

We also accept babies from 27 weeks' gestation onwards who require intensive or high-dependency care, transferred before or after birth from other neonatal units.

 

Babies may also be referred to us from level 3 units for ongoing care.

 

 

Ade Oremule on 020 7288 5530

 

 

Parents are welcome to visit at all times. For others, visiting times are 10am - 2pm and 4 - 6pm.  We aim to observe quiet time between 2 - 4pm.

 

Children under the age of 16 (other than siblings of babies in the unit) are not allowed to visit.

 

 

 

There are different levels of neonatal care within the NHS – levels 1, 2 and 3. Depending on the needs of your baby they will be admitted to the level that is most appropriate. You can find out more about the different levels of care on the Bliss website. Our unit is designated as level 2.

 

 

Our neonatal intensive care unit is part of the North Central and East London Neonatal Operational Delivery Network, which is a group of hospitals who work together to provide many kinds of neonatal care to babies in the area.

 

Your baby may be transferred to us from another hospital if they require specialised neonatal care not available elsewhere.

 

If your baby requires highly specialised neonatal care not provided at our hospital, they can be easily and quickly transferred to another hospital for the care they need.

 

 

We are one of the very first neonatal units to have completed the Bliss Baby Charter audit. The charter sets out best practice standards of care for neonatal units in the UK.