Special care baby

About one in ten newborn babies needs to spend some time in a special care baby unit. Most have been born too soon or have not grown as much as they should have before birth. A small number may be ill. The aim of the unit is to protect your baby from any risks to his health and to care for him until he's outgrown them.

Caring for babies with special needs

Today, a baby who's born preterm or small for dates, or with an illness or disability, has a far better chance than he would have had 20 or even ten years ago. This is because so much more is known about how to care for newborn babies and this knowledge is applied in special care baby units.
Read the article
Low birthweight babies

In general, any baby weighing less than 2kg (4 ½ lb) at birth is probably smaller than he should be and may need special care. About four to eight per cent of all babies have low birthweights. Of these, two-thirds are preterm - born before their due date - and one-third are small for dates.
Read the article
Newborn special care unit

In the special care unit your baby is cared for 24 hours a day by specially trained staff with a wide range of technology to help them. The main concerns for a special care baby are temperature control, breathing, brain and immune system, and feeding. There'll be a lot of tubes, electrodes,...
Read the article
Miriam's casebook - Premature baby

At 28 weeks of pregnancy, Carol noticed that her fingers, hands, and feet were swollen. Two weeks later she had raised blood pressure, so her blood pressure, blood, and urine were monitored. Her baby was checked too, with electronic fetal monitoring and ultrasound scans. There was albumin in...
Read the article