September is Neonatal Intensive Care Month, a time dedicated to honoring Forrest General’s tiniest NICU patients, their families, and the medical professionals who care for them.
While the NICU is not where most families plan to be following a delivery, Forrest General Hospital’s Level III NICU is where you want to be if the need arises. The unit cares for premature, underweight, and/or sick babies requiring the highest level of care after birth.
The NICU has the Pine Belt’s only family-centered NICU. This means the care model involves the family in their baby’s care and routine, and aims to reduce mental and emotional trauma for families. Family-centered care is based on the principles of partnership, collaboration, respect, and information sharing between the family and the healthcare team.
The hospital is also home to a Neonatal Transport team which has the responsibility of traveling to regional facilities in our 19-county coverage area to bring at-risk infants back to Forrest General in a specially designed NICU transport ambulance.
The FGH NICU consists of 19 rooms, divided between an intensive care unit, intermediate care nursery, and isolation room for critically ill infants. The NICU is supported by neonatologists, nurse practitioners, and highly-skilled nurses, respiratory therapists and acute and advanced care techs trained in neonatal care.
The little things
Sometimes it’s the little things that matter and make the most impact when you can’t be with your baby all the time, or the necessities, which you often take for granted, that you have at your disposal.
In Forrest General’s NICU, parents can spend the night in their infant’s room. Siblings are allowed to visit every Sunday from 1-3 p.m. Siblings must be free of any illness. Their visitation is limited to 30 minutes. Each NICU room is equipped with a webcam so parents can stay connected with their newborns. The secure service is free to NICU families and can be accessed through a username and password. It also provides a way for loved ones who are too small or too far away to see your newest little addition. Infants who are born prematurely or are very sick at birth are at risk for delays in their early developmental skills, motor skills, physical strength, and later learning abilities. That’s why the Forrest General staff continues to monitor NICU graduates for two years through the Neonatal Follow-up Clinic — another part of FGH’s comprehensive care provided
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