Our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

For expectant parents, the journey of pregnancy is filled with lots of excitement and thoughts of what’s ahead. We also know that sometimes things don’t always go as planned. Some newborns require special care due to prematurity or other conditions after birth. A baby may need to be cared for in the NICU for a variety of reasons, from a planned admission immediately following birth, to the unexpected. That’s why we want you to feel confident knowing that we have a Level III NICU that provides outstanding care from our specially trained NICU team, for all of those what-if’s that may come up unexpectedly.

We know your baby is one of a kind. We believe that you and your baby deserve the best during your stay with us. And we also know that one size doesn't fit all. The NICU sets a standard of excellence in providing the highest-quality evidenced based practices to customize the care to our tiniest patients.

Our goal in the Saint Joe’s NICU is for your baby to receive the best possible care and we want you to be fully informed, engaged, and integrated in your baby’s care, right from the very beginning. Even with all we have to offer with our advanced technology and specialized care team - we know that our families are the heart of our NICU team.

Our state-of-the-art NICU is here to provide you a home away from home while your baby grows and meets important milestones on the journey to home. Saint Joe’s NICU is one of the first of its kind focused on family integrated care. Parents are not considered visitors, but you are part of the care team. You are welcome and encouraged to be with your baby as much as possible. Our compassionate caregivers are here to help you feel confident in learning about your baby, bonding, and being ready to care for your baby after going home from the hospital.

Our multi-disciplinary NICU team round on a daily basis to provide updates on your baby’s care and progress. We encourage you to be present for rounds and actively engage with the care team to make your baby’s plan for the day and to discuss goals for the week. For example, throughout the day in the NICU, you will be able to spend time bonding with your baby by learning massage with our NICU specific occupational therapists. We also will help you provide skin to skin while holding your baby in a comfy recliner. We know that you have a unique perspective and know your baby the best, and we value your input.

Even during a hectic time in the world (hello pandemic!), we felt like everyone at Saint Joe's was working hard to make things as normal as possible for us. Despite the chance for some issues during birth, the L&D nurses and doctors worked with us to honor as many of our requests as they could. Our postpartum nurses and lactation consultants were all friendly, helpful and attentive - always making sure I had diapers full of ice, pads and pain killers to help with my pain after giving birth! :)

The L&D nurse we had during most of my labor even came and saw us the next day and brought us a hand-crocheted hat for our new baby girl. And the lady who delivered our dinner while I was laboring came back the next day to meet our little one. All in all, it was a great experience!

-Miranda King delivered daughter, Ada in 2020

Being able to choose a Baby-Friendly Hospital was very important to me, and among the most important criteria that I used when making the decision where I wanted to give birth to our twins last May 2019. My first encounter with lactation support at Saint Joe's was during the "Breastfeeding Multiples Successfully" course that I took a few weeks before their birth. It was incredibly helpful to make connections with the staff and be able to ask questions and receive recommendations before the birth.

Once the babies arrived, my experience with the lactation support staff continued to be positive, empowering, hands-on and informative. I was shown how to initiate breastfeeding within an hour of the twins arrival, encouraged to do skin-to-skin and breastfeed on demand, and supported while I got the hang of it all. In looking back at the hospital experience - especially as a mother of multiples - I am most grateful that our babies were not separated from us for a single minute. Even in the crucial and defining moments of our early breastfeeding journey, like when I would pump and only drops would come out, I was encouraged to keep going and shown the way by folks who were knowledgeable and informed. Most importantly, all the staff treated me like a human being: they made me feel heard and understood throughout all the interactions we had. Another great benefit of being able to give birth in a Baby-Friendly Hospital was the availability of donor breast milk, which received donor milk while I was in the hospital and was able to purchase with some to take home when I was discharged. I also rented a hospital grade breast pump from the hospital, which was incredibly helpful in helping me to establish my milk supply.

In the first three months, I met with lactation support staff one-on-one twice for specific issues and attended the breastfeeding support groups to know how much breastmilk the babies were transferring. Overall, I had an incredibly positive experience with breastfeeding support at Saint Joe's. They played a critical role in helping me build the foundation of breastfeeding my twins, who are still nursing at 15 months.

-Sheba McCants delivered twins in 2019

I am so thankful that St. Joe's NICU was our first home with our daughter. The nurses, doctors and therapists made an effort to include my husband and I in everything that was going on. We truly felt like a part of the medical team. Each night when we left our baby with the night nurse, we were confident that she was in the best hands. We will forever be thankful to St. Joe's and all who helped give our daughter the best start possible.

-Carmen
Penny - 27 weeks, born Summer 2016

We ended up at Saint Joe's for our first because of the familiarity due to other family member’s delivering there. However, we thought of no other hospitals when we got pregnant with our second. Due to it being a high-risk pregnancy and knowing how I, as mom, was treated along with the AMAZING care our first son received in the NICU we knew there were no other hospitals that would make us feel safer.

-The Harper Family

I work at St. Joe's, so I was aware of our high standard of care. But only when I was on the receiving end did I realize how wonderful our doctors and nurses are. The nurses kept checking on us, and every time their shifts changed (and we felt like we lost a good nurse), a better one replaced her. It just felt like an unending supply of really good nurses - all incredibly kind and patient that they started to feel like family. I was particularly touched when one of the nurses held my hand when I was in so much pain - I will never forget that. We just ended up feeling very lucky, and incredibly grateful to have our baby at St. Joe's.

- Yeshi

I knew I was in the best hands possible if my baby needed help. Turns out he did need help! He got the best care possible from my extended family. I have never felt so blessed and so comfortable having others look after my baby!

-Joi

I'm thankful that I had my baby at Saint Joe's because I knew the care would be - and it was - excellent. Just in case my baby needed NICU care, I wanted her to be able to go to my NICU. I was treated with the utmost respect, privacy, and kindness. If I have another, there's no question in my mind that I would deliver here again. It was wonderful!

-Erika

My daughter, Emma, is my world! The staff at St. Joe's that cared for her are the reason she is with us today. They are the reason that we are now making plans for preschool; the reason that one day my husband will be able to walk her down the aisle. I will forever be grateful for the entire care team at St. Joe's and the gift that they have given my family!

-Carly

I am thankful that I decided to have my baby at St. Joe's because I knew that they had a great NICU team and provided great care. I never thought that I would actually have a baby end up in the NICU but wanted to deliver there "just in case". After a flawless pregnancy, he had other plans and required a 5day NICU stay! Just as I thought, we had the best providers who made us feel comfortable and had reassuring and updated communication with us the whole time.

-Angie