Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)

When your infant needs advanced medical care, count on the experts at our Level IV neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the Women's & Children's Hospital.

In our NICU, your newborn will benefit from the highest level of care available for newborns in South Texas from a team of highly trained neonatal specialists.

Compassionate, Family-Centered Care

Rest assured, your baby will receive kind, attentive care in the NICU at the Women's & Children's Hospital. Our family-centered approach to care ensures you are a decision-making partner throughout your infant’s treatment course. You and your family will provide emotional, social, and developmental support to your newborn while they heal.

24/7 NICU Access and Technology

Visit your baby anytime with 24/7 access to the NICU. Private rooms with a pull-out bed allow parents to spend the night with their baby if desired.

If you are unable to be at bedside, you can remotely see your infant from home or work via secure cameras we call Angel Eye.

Complete Neonatal Care and Services

If your infant is born with a complex medical diagnosis, depend on our NICU to provide high-quality medical and surgical care. With the help of the most up-to-date medical technology and a robust team of pediatric subspecialists, we provide a full range of care and treatment options for conditions such as:

• Extreme prematurity
• Brain injuries, including hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE)
• Congenital anomalies
• Congenital infections including congenital syphilis 
• Congenital heart disease
• Congenital neurologic conditions
• Genetic disorders
• Hyperbilirubinemia (requiring phototherapy or exchange transfusion)
• Metabolic disorders 
• Feeding difficulties
• Intestinal failure
• Neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS)
• Respiratory distress 
• Sepsis (infection)
• Low birth weight

Services

Treatment options our team may offer include, but are not limited to:

• Chemotherapy
• Dialysis
• Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)
• Laser eye surgery or eye injection treatments
• Liver or kidney transplant
• Nutrition and bone health treatments
• Tube feedings
• Pre- and post-operative surgery care
• Respiratory (breathing) support including traditional ventilator support, high frequency ventilation and inhaled nitric oxide
• Whole-body cooling for HIE

Your Neonatal Team

Your baby is in the best possible hands with our multispecialty team. Your NICU care team includes:

• Specially trained neonatologists with advanced knowledge of treating premature and sick infants are available 24 hours a day
• Nurse practitioners and physician assistants with specialized expertise in caring for newborns
• Dedicated NICU pharmacists with years of experience in neonatal care
• Registered nurses with advanced certifications in intensive care for infants
• Registered dietitians from our Neonatal Nutrition and Bone Institute
• Lactation consultants
• Comprehensive team of pediatric medical subspecialists available 24/7
• Surgical subspecialists with advanced training in pediatric surgery, ENT, urology, orthopedics, neurosurgery and congenital cardiothoracic surgery
• Award winning team of respiratory therapists (2024 Apex Award)
• Physical, occupational, and speech therapists to attend to your baby’s developmental needs
• Child Life specialists, social workers, pastoral care counselors and other support staff
• Dedicated family support specialist
• Multidisciplinary complex care team to facilitate expert inpatient and outpatient care for our technology dependent patients

NICU Transport Team

Safe transport of your baby to the Women's & Children's Hospital from other regional facilities is available 24 hours a day.

Our neonatal transport team is composed of a highly trained registered nurse and respiratory therapist. A neonatologist or advanced practice provider is available to accompany the transport if medically necessary. 

Using special equipment for neonatal transport, the team can treat and stabilize your critically ill infant during a medical or surgical emergency. We are equipped to provide advanced respiratory support techniques on transport including high frequency ventilation, inhaled nitric oxide, and whole-body cooling for moderate to severe hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.

Donor Milk Program

In partnership with Prolacta® Bioscience, the Women's & Children's Hospital provides nutritional care to NICU babies whose mothers cannot produce breast milk. The Donor Milk Program makes it possible for us to give newborns vital nutrients with 100% human milk products.

In dedication to infant nutrition, the Women’s & Children’s Hospital will open the first milk bank in South Texas to expand options for donor breast milk to a wider assortment of infants.

Goslings Program

The NICU Goslings Program is an early literacy initiative offered to parents and caregivers when their babies are in the NICU. Our caring, experienced staff offers guidance to help your baby’s development and make your experience positive. Through this program, we’ll inspire confidence in your ability to recognize your baby’s signals and behavioral cues.

This innovative, research-based program features a number of learning experiences and resources including:

• Learning your baby’s evolving behavioral clues
• Establishing routines through interaction and repetition
• Books, songs and other tools to encourage speech development
• Skilled, trained staff to guide you through your time in the NICU

NICU Graduate Clinic

We offer ongoing care for your baby after leaving the NICU. The NICU Graduate Clinic offers two years of focused attention all in one place and can serve as your child’s primary pediatric medical home.

PREMIEre Program

Our PREMIEre program is able to monitor your child’s long-term health and development as they grow, assisting with coordination of specialty medical care and developmental therapies.