UC Irvine Giving Day 2025

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.

• Family-centered care has been shown to improve outcomes in our tiny patients, but oftentimes, due to the level of illness of both mothers and babies, families face prolonged hospitalization away from their hometown. This distance creates a financial hardship for many and may mean the difference between spending time with their baby and providing for themselves and any other family. Breastfeeding and frequent skin-to-skin contact promotes bonding, positive touch and improved neurodevelopmental outcomes. By providing resources such as gas cards to families in need, we can continue to support the goal of family-centered care and enabling families to be present at the bedside with their babies.
  
  
• Families spend countless hours in the hospital when babies are undergoing surgeries or other stressful procedures. During these uncertain times, the provision of meal vouchers can help ease the cost burden of purchasing multiple meals during those days when families often hold vigil at the bedside. Community resources are extremely limited to help with these types of needs; therefore, we are trying our best to help fill some of the gaps and relieve some stressors for families as they support their babies.

Your gift, of any size, truly makes a difference for those that become a part of our NICU family.