Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
No one wants to go into a pregnancy being concerned about possible complications, but for some women, there are risks associated with pregnancy. While most high-risk women will have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies, it's good to know you can deliver at a hospital that is specially equipped to care for preemies.
From premature babies to twins, triplets or more, the neonatal specialists at Lakeside Hospital are uniquely qualified to take care of your newborn and any special needs he or she might have.
Expert NICU care for our tiniest patients
Our Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is staffed with an interdisciplinary team to ensure that your tiny bundle of joy receives the best possible start.
Our highly skilled neonatologists work together with neonatal nurse practitioners to provide 24-hour care, seven days a week. Therapists, registered nurses and social workers round out the team so you can be confident your infant is getting the highest level of care available in the New Orleans area.
We offer the latest treatments – such as total body cooling, in which the temperature of infants who don’t have enough oxygen at birth is intentionally lowered – to amenities such a donor breast milk program.
But we provide loving, holistic care for the entire family, with services such as:
- Art in Medicine program
- A robust education program for parents, siblings and other caregivers
Meet our patients
Joshua was born at just 27 weeks, and he recently celebrated his 2nd birthday.
Royal’s mom was unable to have a baby shower before she born, due to her arrival at 23 weeks. But her mom was able to knit this mermaid outfit with the help of our Arts in Medicine team for a fun, ocean-themed shower soon after.
Keimaj was born at just 1 pound, 13 ounces. He spent more than 100 days in our NICU, but today is a happy, healthy boy who “runs the house,” according to his mom.
Conditions we treat
If your child is born with one of the following conditions, the NICU at Lakeside Hospital offers leading-edge treatments and protocols to increase your infant’s health and wellbeing. Although this is by no means an exhaustive list of what we can do, common conditions we treat include:
- Retinopathy of Prematurity – an eye disorder that could result in blindness that primarily affects low weight premature infants born before the 31st week of pregnancy.
- Necrotizing Enterocolitis – a serious disease of the intestinal tract.
- Low Birth Weight Infants – a baby who weighs 5.5 pounds or less when born.
- Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Withdrawal syndrome in newborns caused by use of opiates during pregnancy.
- Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension – a serious condition that causes the baby’s blood flow to bypass its lungs.
NICU graduate clinic
The care we provide high-risk infants doesn’t end when you leave our NICU. Through our partners with the Tulane University School of Medicine, we offer a NICU Graduate Clinic that serves as a liaison between the NICU team, pediatrician and subspecialists in order to smooth the transition home, provide ongoing support to the patients and their families and help ensure the patient receives the highest quality medical care.
Call 504.988.4158 to learn more.