The University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital recently celebrated the launch of their Small Baby Unit. Located in the hospital’s 71-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), the Small Baby Unit is specially designed to care for babies who are born at 30 weeks or less or weigh less than 1,250 grams (2.76 lbs). It’s the first small baby unit to open on Chicago’s South Side.
While staff with the hospital’s NICU have always cared for the tiniest of patients, the 16-bed Small Baby Unit is staffed with a multidisciplinary care team trained to meet the unique medical needs of these vulnerable babies.
“Research shows that dedicated small baby units improve outcomes for extremely preterm infants,” said Kelly Nelson Kelly, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at UChicago Medicine and a neonatologist with the unit. “Each team member in the Small Baby Unit has a dedicated role in ensuring the best, most optimized care for our babies.”
Nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians, respiratory therapists, developmental therapists, dietitians, Child Life specialists and all other team members work together to make sure babies are taken care of and their parents are centered in their children’s care.
Parents are currently included on rounds with their babies’ care teams while a plan is crafted for the day. This not only allows them to learn about what that care involves, but it also gives them a chance to advocate for themselves and their babies’ needs.
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This story was first publsihed by UChicago Medicine.
