The NICU at Children’s National is proud to be ranked #1 in the nation for several years running!
Our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is a 70 bed Level IV NICU. Care is delivered to infants and families transported from approximately 40 regional community hospitals in three states. The patient ages typically range from 23 weeks gestation to 37 weeks gestation, term infants and older children with multiple disease processes. Comprehensive services include medical-surgical care for infants with conditions including but not limited to pre-maturity, genetic disorders, pulmonary disorders and cardiac disorders. The unit also provides for the inter-hospital transportation of infants as well as ECMO services.
Children’s National NICU is a regional referral center for neonatal patients requiring ECMO therapy for respiratory failure, and for neonatal patients requiring whole body cooling for treatment of birth asphyxia/hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.
The Neonatal-Brain Protection Program is co-managed by a team of neonatal-neurologists in collaboration with neonatal attendings specializing in neonatal brain issues. The neonatal-neurology team consult and work with the neonatologists in the development of care and neuromonitoring protocols for infants with potential brain injury. This team works with the neuroimaging team radiology, and conducts translational research in the Fetal/Translational Program in the area of neonatal brain injury.
The neonatology division provides consultation services to the Fetal/Translational Program as needed for maternal referrals, and neonatology support for delivery room stabilization of high risk patients being delivered at Children’s National.
As a Level IV NICU, we offer the highest level of care for premature and ill newborns, as designated by The American Academy of Pediatrics. This means we can:
- Offer the full range of pediatric medical subspecialists, pediatric surgical subspecialists, and pediatric anesthesiologists on site.
- Perform complex surgical procedures to repair complex congenital or acquired conditions.
- Coordinate all aspects of care for conditions and associated complications including: coagulation defects, congenital heart defects, Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) gastrointestinal disorders, genetic and/or metabolic disorders, prematurity, respiratory distress and failure, pulmonary hypertension, renal disorders and sepsis and septic shock.
We treat more than 800 babies every year. Our success is rooted in our dedication to providing family centered care in a collaborative and respectful interdisciplinary environment.
Neonatology provides primary care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The population served in the NICU includes premature infants (23-37 weeks gestation) and term infants and older children with multiple disease processes. The NICU carries the highest level designation, Level IV, from the American Academy of Pediatrics. All infants are admitted to the neonatology service with consultation by subspecialty services as appropriate. The service teams consist of board certified neonatal attendings, along with a combination of neonatal fellows, pediatric residents in training, and neonatal nurse practitioners and neonatal physician assistants. An attending neonatologist is available 24/7, 7 days a week.
The department utilizes a multi-disciplinary approach to care utilizing the services of physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, unit specific pharmacist and dietitians, and other support services necessary to provide quality care. A full-time Neonatal Transport Team consisting of specialty trained neonatal transport nursing personnel, neonatal Respiratory Therapists, and for complex cases, a Neonatology fellow or attending physician conducts transport. The team can transport via ambulance, helicopter, or fixed wing air transport as needed.
Children's National Hospital, based in Washington, DC, celebrates 150 years of pediatric care, research and commitment to community. Volunteers opened the hospital in 1870 with 12 beds for children displaced after the Civil War. Today, 150 years stronger, it is among the nation's top 10 children's hospitals. It is ranked No. 1 for newborn care for the fourth straight year and ranked in all specialties evaluated by U.S. News & World Report. Children's National is transforming pediatric medicine for all children. In 2020, construction will be complete on the Children's National Research & Innovation Campus, the first in the nation dedicated to pediatric research. Children's National has been designated twice as a Magnet® hospital, demonstrating the highest standards of nursing and patient care delivery. This pediatric academic health system offers expert care through a convenient, community-based primary care network and specialty outpatient centers in the D.C., metropolitan area, including the Maryland and Northern Virginia suburbs. Children's National is home to the Children's National Research Institute and Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation and is the nation's seventh-highest NIH-funded children’s hospital. It is recognized for its expertise and innovation in pediatric care, and as a strong voice for children through advocacy at the local, regional and national levels.
