Neonatal Intensive Care
We provide neonatal intensive care at University Hospital Lewisham and Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
We provide care for high-dependency and special care babies over 27 weeks gestation and with a weight of 800 grams.
Locations
Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Second floor, above the main entrance, Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Phone: 020 8836 4530 or 020 8836 4531
University Hospital Lewisham
4th Floor - Green Zone - University Hospital Lewisham
Phone: 020 8333 3139 or 020 8333 3140
Who we can help
High-dependency and special care babies over 27 weeks gestation and with a weight of 800 grams and above can be admitted to our NICUs.
Babies born at less than 27 weeks gestation and a weight below 800 grams will be transferred to a Level 3 (intensive care) unit coordinated by the Dedicated Retrieval Team from Royal London Hospital at Whitechapel.
Neonatal surgery cases will also be transferred to one of the hospitals within the South East London Neonatal Network.
Babies who have continuing healthcare needs after they are discharged will be referred to the Children's Community Nursing team and Health Visitors and Community Midwives are kept informed.
What we do
Our neonatal units are Local Neonatal Units (LNU), caring for babies from 27 weeks gestation and with a weight above 800 grams.
The units have a dedicated team of paediatric consultants, head of nursing/Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner and specialist trained nurses. Our units have a ward round between 8.30 — 10.30am (finishing times vary) and parents are welcome and encouraged to be in attendance when the doctors see their baby.
We are able to offer donor breast milk, daily breastfeeding classes on our postnatal wards and have full time breastfeeding leads and discharge co-ordinators to fully prepare parents when they are ready to go home.
We have daily quiet times which gives parents an opportunity to have undisturbed time for kangaroo care and quality time with their baby.
Visiting guidance
Parents, are welcome to stay at any time. Grandparents and siblings of the baby are welcome to visit between 2pm — 8pm.
Visitors are limited to 2 people per baby and we always require visitors to be accompanied by one of the parents.
Parents are encouraged to participate in the care of their baby and to hold them as much as is possible. Mothers are supported in feeding their babies with specialist nurses on hand to provide help with both breast and bottle feeding, and there we have dedicated rooms for mothers to express milk.
Parents have their own sitting room with tea and coffee making facilities. There is also an ensuite room for parents and their baby to use prior to discharge for 'rooming in'. This is somewhere you can spend some time bonding with your baby, overnight if you want to, before you are discharged and head home.
Our neonatal units have a strict hand hygiene policy and all visitors to the unit must wash their hands as they enter and as instructed afterwards. If you are unwell, please do not visit the unit to avoid spreading infections.