The team of health care professionals in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit will make every effort to keep you posted on your newborn’s condition. Usually nurses, the doctor and the midwife will carry messages from the doctor’s to the parents and vice versa. If your baby’s condition was diagnosed after birth, your doctor should explain his condition to you and any treatment that will be given. If you are unsure, ask questions and insist that your fears are addressed.
Outside the Delivery Room
When your baby is taken out of the delivery room, she may need to be given antibiotics, other medications or fluids by an intravenous drip. She will be swaddled to prevent heat loss and if her breathing is labored or rapid, the doctor may order x-rays to find the cause. Blood tests and an oxygen monitor will help the doctor decide whether or not your baby will be put on a ventilator. When the breathing condition is stabilized, treatment for other problems can begin. Your doctor may continue to monitor your baby for a few days, weeks or even months, depending on the seriousness of her condition.
Often doctors will order blood tests on newborns to check the blood glucose levels and the white blood count. The blood will either be taken from his heel or from a vein in his arm. Blood glucose levels will tell your doctor if you baby was born with diabetes and the white blood count will let her know if your baby has an infection.
Parent’s Needs
It is important that you take care of yourself while your baby is under the care of his doctor. It will be difficult for you to be separated from him and this can cause anxiety, depression and stress. You may feel that you’re to blame for your baby’s health problems and you will feel a great sense of disappointment. Talk to your baby’s medical team, your family doctor, a social worker or a psychologist to help you cope through this difficult time. Seek as much information on your baby’s condition as possible.