Issue link: https://fredparent.uberflip.com/i/1216416
32 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • March 2020 Among life's milestones, it's hard to top the day you bring a baby into the world. At Mary Washington Hospital, helping families have safe, healthy birth experiences means being ready for newborns who arrive in need of critical care. As the only hospital in the Fredericksburg region with a Level III neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), Mary Washington Hospital is prepared to treat infants who need extra help as they begin their life outside their mother's womb. The Mary Washington Hospital NICU is powered by a highly trained, specialized staff. Nurses in this special care unit have received advanced training and most are certified in high-risk neonatal intensive care nursing. The advanced training focuses on every detail of caring for our tiniest babies. For example, if a NICU baby needs a special intravenous (IV) catheter for prolonged delivery of medications and nutrition, the specially trained NICU nurse will place the IV in the least invasive, least painful manner. The NICU babies are also supported by specialists in respiratory, physical, and speech therapy, pharmacy, nutrition, and case management to meet each baby's unique needs. In addition, the Mary Washington Hospital NICU has a 24/7 partner- ship with Children's National Hospital that brings world-class neo- natal expertise to newborns in the region without having to leave Fredericksburg. "Children's National is the No. 1 leading neonatology care program in the United States," Young said. "Our physician leaders and our nurse practitioners are part of the Children's National practice." This means babies who need an even higher level of care have imme- diate access to consultation and transport if needed to the Level IV Children's National Hospital NICU, one of the best children's hospitals in the country. Sponsored Material Mary Washington Hospital INTERVIEWED BY EMILY FREEHLING Children's National Neonatologists and Neonatal Nurse Practitioners Staff the NICU Special Care for the Youngest and Tiniest The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 10 per- cent of American babies are born pre-term, and 8.3 percent are born at low birthweight. These are two major reasons children may need care from a NICU. As a Level III NICU, Mary Washington Hospital can care for premature infants as small as one pound. "We have babies born as young as 23 weeks," said Mary Washington Hospital NICU Nurse Manager, Nancy Young. "We also care for babies born at term and beyond 40 weeks that are having difficulty transitioning and complications with breath- ing such as respiratory distress syndrome and infection." Provides the Highest Level of in the Fredericksburg Region NEONATAL CARE Mary Washington Hospital NICU patient.