When a newborn needs round-the-clock specialized care to start life off on the right foot, being close to home—and mom—can make all the difference.
Newborns who need it receive specialized care in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Neonatologists are pediatricians with advanced training in the care of sick and preterm newborns.
When NICU Care Is Needed
For premature infants who start life with a medical condition or who may need a little more time to acclimate to their new world, NICU care is vital but rarely something that parents expect to need.
In each of our NICUs, our team members care for patients using technology that mimics the womb to help developing babies grow into healthy children and adults.
To ensure nursing teams are prepared for such a responsibility, nurses who want to work in the NICU undergo 18 additional months of specialized training. The training, provided by our health system, gradually exposes new nurses to issues experienced by neonatal patients.
By providing comprehensive care to our youngest patients with the greatest needs, our NICU teams have the chance to turn traumatic events into positive experiences. And that happens every day. Families across Louisiana have come to rely on this type of exceptional care from our children’s health network.
Across our health system, we offer this type of neonatal care for our youngest, most vulnerable patients, including babies born weeks before their due date. And because of our children’s health network’s reach, families can stay together and babies can stay closer to home when they need NICU care.
Our NICUs
St. Francis Medical Center offers the only Level III NICU in Northeast Louisiana, providing critical care to babies as far away as Arkansas and Mississippi.
Our Lady of Lourdes Women’s & Children’s Hospital is the only Level III surgical NICU in Acadiana.
Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital in Baton Rouge houses our newest NICU—the Newton & Betsy Thomas Family Center for Newborn & Infant Intensive Care. Since this Level III surgical NICU is not connected to a delivery center, most infants arrive via transport.
Families Have a Choice
Moms and dads can choose where their newborn receives care. If you are ever faced with this decision, you can choose our high quality NICU care and keep your family together close to home, which is better for mom, baby and the whole family.
We hope your family never needs a NICU, but it’s good to know what’s available—just in case. Across our health system we offer access to the highest quality family-centered care:
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Greater Baton Rouge and Northshore: Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital’s Newton & Betsy Thomas Family Center for Newborn & Infant Intensive Care
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Acadiana: Our Lady of Lourdes Women’s & Children’s Hospital’s Level III Surgical NICU
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Northeast Louisiana: the region’s only Level III NICU at St. Francis Medical Center
