Premature Babies

• Neonatal Intensive Care
• Iowa High-risk Infant Follow-up Program

Neonatal Intensive Care

Our neonatal intensive care unit treats critically ill newborns, extreme low birth-weight premature infants, congenital heart defects, and post-operative neonatal patients.

It offers expert neonatal care, including ECMO, PDA, ligations, cardiac catheterization and nitric oxide therapy. It has a dedicated respiratory therapist, and a critical care lab adjacent to the unit.

The unit features a staff dedicated to helping children achieve the best life possible. The unit is known internationally for its neonatal research and its family-centered focus. The unit's available cutting-edge technology adds to its positive environment.

Iowa High-risk Infant Follow-up Program

Infants spend time in neonatal intensive care units because of problems that call for special care. While most of these problems are not long term, we know now that some children who require intensive care at birth are at a greater than usual risk for problems related to their development. The effect of these problems, however, can often be reduced if they are identified early.

The Iowa High-risk Infant Follow-up Program provides children who have been in neonatal intensive care with periodic developmental assessments. We would like to offer this service to your family during your child's early years. We feel that both you and your child can benefit from the program. You will have access to a nurse with training in child development who can assist you with your concerns. A delay or deviation in development may be detected early, thoroughly evaluated, and therapy can be started if it is appropriate.

The Iowa High-risk Infant Follow-up Program will provide periodic evaluations for your child at a clinic site as close to your home as possible. These evaluations will take place when your child is 4 months, 9 months, 18 months, and two and a half years. The evaluations are provided free of charge. If for some reason you wish to withdraw from the program, you are free to do so at any time. The evaluation will include a developmental screening test and a routine physical examination as part of each visit. The developmental screening test is a test to see how your child is progressing in gross motor skills, such as rolling, sitting, or walking; fine motor activities such as hand-eye coordination skills; language activities such as cooing, babbling, and first words; social interactions, such as smiling and reacting to strangers.

Both the developmental evaluation and the physical examination will be performed by a pediatric nurse practitioner who has special training in assessing the growth and development of children. The pediatric nurse practitioner is also available to help you with your concerns and/or problems you may have in caring for your baby. Part of the program includes collecting information over the years about your child's special history, including information about your pregnancy, labor and delivery. This information is collected not only to understand your child's development, but also to learn more about the development of children who have been in intensive care.

Your local physician will continue to provide your baby's general health care. We will notify your doctor when your child is enrolled in the program. Reports from each visit will be sent to your doctor.

Scheduling of visits - if you decide to be part of the program, you will be contacted either in the hospital or by phone two to four weeks before the appropriate time for evaluations and an appointment will be scheduled at your convenience. Changes in appointment times can be made by phone.

Screening centers are located across Iowa.

The Iowa High-risk Infant Follow-up Program is a cooperative program of:

• Department of Pediatrics, The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City
• Iowa Child Health Specialty Clinics, The University of Iowa, Iowa City
• St. Luke's Hospital, Cedar Rapids
• Mercy Hospital Medical Center, Des Moines

If you have questions about the Iowa High-risk Infant Follow-up Program, call the Iowa City High-Risk Infant Follow-up office at 319-353-6880.