There are three types of neonatal unit providing different levels of care, these are;
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) – for babies who need:
- respiratory support (ventilation)
- additional support due to low birth weight of less than 1,000g
- CPAP and are born at less than 28 weeks gestation
- support due to severe respiratory disease
- surgery
The neonatal intensive care units in the EMNODN are Queen's Medical Centre (Nottingham) and Leicester Royal Infirmary.
Local Neonatal Unit (LNU) – for babies who need:
- short term intensive care support following apnoeic attacks
- continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP)
- parenteral nutrition (tube feeding)
The local neonatal units in the EMNODN are Kettering General Hospital, King's Mill Hospital (Mansfield), Lincoln County Hospital, Northampton General Hospital, Nottingham City Hospital and Royal Derby Hospital,
Special Care Unit (SCU) – for babies who need:
- continuous monitoring of their breathing or heart rate
- additional oxygen
- tube feeding
- phototherapy (neonatal jaundice)
- recovery from other care
The special care units in the EMNODN are Pilgrim Hospital (Boston), Leicester General Hospital and Queen's Hospital (Burton).
In addition to these three levels of care, transitional care is also available in some (not all) of our units.
Transitional Care (TC)
This level of care means your baby still has some needs but is almost ready to go home. Most importantly, the mum becomes the main carer with support from a nursery nurse or other staff on the unit.
Read more about designation of the individual EMNODN units here.
Not all neonatal units have the facilities needed to care for the sickest and smallest babies. If your baby requires a higher level of care than that provided by your local neonatal unit or if your local neonatal unit is extremely busy, your baby may be transferred to another Network hospital to receive care. If there are no available cots it may very occasionally be necessary to move your baby out of Network, in this instance every effort will be made to move your baby back at the earliest opportunity.
All efforts are made to ensure that your baby is cared for in an appropriate unit as close to home as possible.
When your baby no longer requires a higher level of care, he/she will be transferred back to your local neonatal unit or to another unit closer to home.
Read more about transfers within the EMNODN here.
Our dedicated neonatal transport service has a specially trained team of nurses and doctors to safely transfer your baby between hospitals. This is called the CenTre Neonatal Transport Service.
