UAB's Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (RNICU) delivers world-class care to the sickest babies in Alabama and the region. With a combination of state-of-the-art technology and a compassionate, knowledgeable and skilled neonatal care team, the RNICU at UAB is like nowhere else in the state and few places in the country.
In conjunction with The Children's Hospital of Alabama, UAB is classified as a Level IIIC RNICU, the highest level possible and the only Level IIIC in the state. UAB's nursery is distinguished from others for a number of reasons including its ability to care for babies with serious heart problems and other congenital anomalies. Also, unlike other Alabama hospitals, UAB's specialized neonatology physicians are in the hospital 24 hours a day, seven days a week, whenever your baby may need special care. In addition to the RNICU, UAB is also home to a Continuing Care Nursery (CCN), providing extended step-down care for preterm and term babies with medical conditions.
Nationally Recognized Cutting-edge and Compassionate Care
A recent scientific study of more than 48,000 babies, published in the New England Journal of Medicine (Phibbs 2007) found that a baby's survival is linked to the experience, expertise and resources at the hospital where the baby is born. UAB has this experience and capability to support not only a baby's chances for survival, but also for a productive future.
UAB has access to the latest and most advanced technologies available at only the top facilities in the United States, years before they are available elsewhere. UAB is one of only 17 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Neonatal Research Network Centers in the country. UAB is the only facility in the country that is involved in all three of the NIH initiatives dedicated to systematically tracking and improving care for women and infants. Under the care and expertise of our 13 board certified neonatologists and nurses from our specially certified Magnet Nursing Service program, UAB's survival rate for all premature babies significantly exceeds the national average, as does its rate for survival without apparent mental, auditory and visual disabilities.
Each year, approximately 1,500 babies are cared for in UAB's RNICU, including babies transferred here from other hospitals when their care needs are critical. Transport is available through UAB Critical Care Transport, which provides ground or air transportation 24 hours per day, every day of the year.
Family-Centered Care That Promotes Critical Bonding With Baby
We focus on family friendliness, providing 22 hours of visitation per day, when many hospitals limit the amount of time families can spend with their babies to far fewer hours. Our open visitation is grounded in research that shows the tremendous importance of the bonding that takes place between family and baby in the first month of life.
With the opening of our new Women and Infants Center slated for the Spring of 2010, single-room care for RNICU babies means more room for families to be with baby during this developmentally important time.
Supportive and Caring Environment
Families find a supportive and caring staff at UAB, working together to ease the stress on families. Many parents tell us that they were able to go home, or if they were from out of town, to a new conveniently located Ronald McDonald House, to get a good night's sleep because they felt so comfortable with their baby in our care. To make it easy to update family and friends, we also offer CarePages, a free private web site families can use to receive messages and to share photos and information about baby.
UAB has partnered with the March of Dimes to support patients and families during their hospital stay by providing informational lunches, holiday meals, support groups, scrapbooking classes and more. Through this program, unique to UAB, families get information to help them return to normal when it's time to take baby home.
The RNICU at UAB works to make a potentially stressful and potentially frightening experience as positive, caring and supportive as possible. Every baby gets the care and medical expertise for which UAB is known, not only in Alabama, but throughout the world.