Some babies are born fighters. Whether they are born too small, too soon or too sick, these babies spend their first hours, days and sometimes months fighting for survival.
UCI Health Neonatology Services provide comprehensive care for critically-ill premature and full-term infants. The neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at UCI Medical Center is one of only two Level III NICUs in Orange County. It is equipped to treat babies born with brain injury from asphyxia, respiratory failure, congenital birth defects and more.
The NICU team is dedicated to serving families, discovering new treatments that help infants survive and thrive, and training the next generation of neonatologists.
You can help give our tiniest patients every opportunity for better days to follow. Here are some examples of how your donation today can support our patients and their families.
- Providing each family with an information picture book and sleep sack as a part of our Safe Sleep program. The book allows parents to read to their children at night while educating themselves. The sleep sack allows babies to sleep warmly and safely throughout the night. The goal of the program is to teach babies and their parents about safe sleeping habits to hopefully reduce the cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
- Providing each family with access to picture books as a part of our Read to Me program. The goal of the program is to help parents bond with their babies by reading to them during each visit to the NICU.
- Providing more resources to each family as a part our of Skin-to-Skin program. The program has shown skin-to-skin holding is beneficial for not only the babies, but the family members as well. Babies have shown to have better neurodevelopmental outcomes due to skin-to-skin holding, and parents feel a closer bond through this interaction that only they can provide. The goal of the program is to educate and promote early and often skin-to-skin holding, even after discharges, as well as creating and distributing an information picture book that parents can read to their babies about the benefits of skin-to-skin holding.
Your gift, of any size, truly makes a difference for those that become a part of our NICU family.