WHAT'S IN NICU(Neonatal Intensive Care Unit)?
There are different kinds of unit in the hospital. There is Medical Surgical, Observation Unit, Surgery Unit, Emergency Department, & Maternity.
In the Maternity Unit, this is where women are provided care up until childbirth. There are some unfortunate circumstances wherein babies aren't fully developed and needs a higher care. They get admitted to the Neonatal Intensive care unit(NICU) or shall we say a Neonatal version of ICU.
What is NICU?
It's a unit where they specialize in taking care of prematurely born or dangerously ill babies. Unfortunately, some Neonates get admitted to NICU due to possible causes:
1. Intrauterine growth restriction
A condition in which a baby doesn't grow to normal weight during pregnancy. Baby is most likely born underweight or small for gestational age. They aren't well developed yet. Ages 37 weeks and below.
2. Respiratory Distress Syndrome
This is very common in newborn babies because of their immature lungs wherein they require respiratory support to be able to have sufficient oxygen in their blood and lungs.
3. Hypoglycemia/Hyperglycemia
Hypo means low and Hyper means high. So newborn baby could either have low level of blood sugar or high level of blood sugar in their laboratory results. Glucose is very important to our body since it it used as energy source.
4. NAS or Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome
is a group of conditions caused when a baby withdraws from certain drugs he's exposed to in the womb before birth. NAS is most often caused when a woman takes drugs called opioids during pregnancy.
These are usually common causes of why neonates get admitted to NICU. I work in NICU on one of the hospitals here in Arizona and as part of a medical team, we always work together with the parents with the plan of care for the baby.
In the Maternity Unit, this is where women are provided care up until childbirth. There are some unfortunate circumstances wherein babies aren't fully developed and needs a higher care. They get admitted to the Neonatal Intensive care unit(NICU) or shall we say a Neonatal version of ICU.
What is NICU?
1. Intrauterine growth restriction
A condition in which a baby doesn't grow to normal weight during pregnancy. Baby is most likely born underweight or small for gestational age. They aren't well developed yet. Ages 37 weeks and below.
2. Respiratory Distress Syndrome
This is very common in newborn babies because of their immature lungs wherein they require respiratory support to be able to have sufficient oxygen in their blood and lungs.
3. Hypoglycemia/Hyperglycemia
Hypo means low and Hyper means high. So newborn baby could either have low level of blood sugar or high level of blood sugar in their laboratory results. Glucose is very important to our body since it it used as energy source.
4. NAS or Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome
is a group of conditions caused when a baby withdraws from certain drugs he's exposed to in the womb before birth. NAS is most often caused when a woman takes drugs called opioids during pregnancy.
These are usually common causes of why neonates get admitted to NICU. I work in NICU on one of the hospitals here in Arizona and as part of a medical team, we always work together with the parents with the plan of care for the baby.
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