As one of India’s biggest and most comprehensive healthcare practitioners, Manipal Hospitals’ Department of Neonatology runs state of the art Newborn Intensive Care Units (NICU) for the care of neonatal babies that have fallen sick or have been born pre-maturely.

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Thanks to advancement in neonatal care and the facilities available in the modern NICU, even premature babies that are born with as little as 24 weeks of gestation have significantly increased chances of survival. In December 2018, a baby born at just 245 grams with 23 weeks and 3 days of gestation was able to survive and after 5 months, was discharged from the hospital and is expected to live a healthy life.

Sometimes babies are born without fully developed body systems, which can make survival difficult. The lungs may not be able to breathe, the heart may not be pumping blood effectively etc.
The NICU is equipped with hi-tech apparatus that allows doctors to compensate for the underdevelopment of body systems in pre-term babies or undetected congenital defects, both of which endanger the survival of the newborn.
Illnesses commonly diagnosed and treated in the NICU

• Apnea
• Anemia
• Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD)
• Bradycardia
• Hydrocephalus
• Neonatal sepsis
• Jaundice
• Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH)
• Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA)
• Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC)
• Infant respiratory distress syndrome (RDS)
• Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL)
• Transient tachypnea of the newborn (TTN)
• Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP)

Facilities & Services

Equipment and services in the NICU – Incubator beds (used to replicate optimal conditions for neonates) – Oxygen hood – Neonatal ventilator – Resuscitation – IV infusion – Blood transfusion – Plasma transfusion – Neonatal health monitors (BP, heart rate, temperature, respiration) – Bedside ultrasound, echocardiogram – Lactation systems – Minimally invasive neonatal diagnostic kits – Transport incubators – Antibiotic treatment NICU Care levels – Level 1 care- For neonates that weigh over 1800 grams with a gestational maturity of 34 or more weeks – Level 2 care-For neonates that weigh less than 1800 grams, but more than 1200 grams, with a gestational maturity between 30 and 34 weeks. – Level 3 care-For neonates that weigh less than 1200 grams with a gestational maturity of less than 30 weeks.