Newborn Care at Children's Hospital Colorado

Children's Hospital Colorado provides expertise, compassion and support to help you achieve the best possible outcomes for your newborn, you and your family. We have been providing world-class intensive care to newborns in the Denver area and Rocky Mountain region since 1965.

We are committed to providing family-centered care. The best outcome for your child will be achieved by families and healthcare professionals working together as partners. In this relationship, each partner values communication, accountability, respect and a supportive environment.

Our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is designed to provide a home-like setting, so you can be by your new baby’s side 24 hours a day. We encourage siblings and family members to visit. View a typical NICU patient room.

Our NICU supports your new baby in a healing environment by using sophisticated technology such as specialized flooring that reduces noise, acoustic ceiling tiles, and indirect lighting to promote healthy brain development.

Parents participate in daily rounds with the medical team, and are important members of each baby’s care team. We encourage parents to take advantage of our unique March-of-Dimes sponsored Family Support Program and the emotional and spiritual support offered by the NICU social work team and chaplains.

Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU)

Our NICU is a nationally recognized leader in the treatment of critically ill infants. Our state-of-the-art NICU provides 60 critical care beds for infants up to 3 months of age, and is designated a Level IIIC NICU, the highest distinction granted by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Children's Hospital Colorado NICU treats nearly 750 infants each year from Denver, surrounding areas in Colorado and a 10-state area, and is the only NICU in the region with the experience and technology to treat virtually any medical condition affecting newborns.

For more than 40 years, Children's Hospital Colorado NICU has provided exceptional care for critically ill newborn babies. Our doctors have pioneered many critical developments in neonatal care and in many cases were the first in the world to use new therapies, including:

• Surfactant replacement for premature babies’ lungs
• Inhaled nitric oxide therapy for pulmonary hypertension
• Brain cooling for perinatal brain injury
• Inhaled nitric oxide to prevent premature lung disease
• Optimal nutritional strategies for low birth weight babies

The staff in the NICU includes a diverse and highly experienced group of professionals.

• Our 22 board-certified neonatologists are nationally and internationally recognized leaders in neonatal care and clinical and scientific research. They are present in the NICU 24 hours a day to care for your child.
• Our Neonatal Nurse Practitioners and nurses hold advanced nursing degrees.
• Children's Hospital Colorado’s NICU is the first in the nation to be named a Center of Excellence for Neonatal Services  by United Resource Networks (URN).
• We train the next generation of leaders in neonatology through our competitive fellowship program in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine.

Conditions we treat

The NICU is equipped with every available technology and numerous pediatric surgical sub-specialists on-site, which means that unlike any other hospital in the region, we are able to treat any condition that your infant may encounter. The NICU provides care for:

• Premature infants (“Premies”) and newborns
• Respiratory failure
• Pulmonary hypertension
• Congenital  diaphragmatic hernia
• Major neonatal surgical needs (cardiac, intestinal, neurosurgical, orthopedic, ENT, plastic surgery)
• All forms of complex congenital heart disease, in partnership with Children's Hospital Colorado Heart Institute (link)
• Sepsis or infections
• Kidney disorders
• Birth defects and genetic syndromes
• Gastrointestinal disorders

Specialized services offered at Children's Hospital Colorado NICU

• Specialized neonatal critical care transport team (Flight for Life)
• Since 1988, our Neonatal ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) Program has provided sophisticated respiratory and cardiac support to nearly 150 of our sickest babies. We are one of fewer than 100 such programs nationally.
• Head Cooling for Perinatal Brain Injury. One of the most experienced NICUs in the nation and currently the only center in the region providing this important therapy to improve neurologic outcomes for babies born with brain injuries.
• Highest level of neonatal care with all available therapies on site (High frequency oscillatory ventilation, inhaled nitric oxide, ECMO, Head cooling, hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis).
• Pediatric subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists on-site
• Treatment of all forms of complex congenital heart disease, and one of the most experienced centers in the nation for pediatric heart transplantation
• Pulmonary Hypertension Team
• Ventilator Care Program, a multidisciplinary team approach for infants with complicated or prolonged respiratory support needs.
• Children's Hospital Colorado is the only Neonatal Individualized Developmental Care (NIDCAP) training center in the Rocky Mountain region, providing special training for professionals working with infants in the intensive care nurseries.
• Partnership with the Colorado High-Risk Maternity and Newborn Program  at the University of Colorado Hospital, to coordinate care before your baby is even born.