Level III NICU
The Attention and Care Your Baby Deserves
As parents, we always want what’s best for our children, especially when it comes to medical care. That’s where our Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) comes in. If your delivery doesn’t go quite as expected and your newborn needs more specialized care, you and your baby are in great hands with the state’s highest level of designated neonatal care.
Florida’s Highest Level of Neonatal Care
A NICU is a nursery for babies who are born early, have problems during delivery or develop issues while still in the hospital. But not all NICUs are the same.
The NICU at St. Mary’s Medical Center offers all three levels of designated care- including Level III, Florida’s highest.
Studies indicate significantly higher survival rates for very low birthweight babies born in hospitals offering Level III Neonatal Intensive Care. Level III NICUs are also designed to provide sophisticated types of respiratory support for very sick babies and offer a wide variety of neonatal surgeries.
Palm Beach County’s #1 Choice
As the largest NICU in Palm Beach County, St. Mary’s offers a comprehensive team of pediatric subspecialists, and has dedicated lactation consultants who specialize in teaching mothers and their newborns how to form a successful breastfeeding routine. We’re also one of only 12 Regional Perinatal Intensive Care Centers in Florida that help heal high-risk mothers and infants.
When babies arrive early or require medical or surgical treatment at birth, the highly skilled doctors, nurses and technicians at our NICU have immediate access to advanced technology and can begin specialized care right away. Through the Palm Beach Children’s Hospital, your baby will have direct access to the numerous pediatric sub-specialties our dedicated children’s hospital provides.
That’s why more expectant mothers choose St. Mary’s over any other hospital in Palm Beach County*.
Keeping Your Baby Close to You
As unlikely as it may seem to require Level III NICU care, it’s comforting to know that the highest level of care is right there if you need it, where you and your new baby can stay close and get to know each other.
At St. Mary’s, even under difficult circumstances, new mothers and babies stay close to each other so critical bonding can occur. The NICU is right next to The Birthplace and new moms are encouraged to visit and interact their new son or daughter as soon as they are able to. When mom and baby are ready, our staff will help strengthen the connection through holding, skin-to-skin “Kangaroo Care,” feeding, diaper changes and more.
We Deliver for You
Ask your obstetrician to deliver your baby at The Birthplace at St. Mary’s Medical Center, where you’ll enjoy the comfort of beautiful surroundings and the peace of mind that comes with immediate access to the highest level of neonatal care available if necessary.
If you have questions about the Level III NICU at St. Mary’s Medical Center or would like to take a tour, please call us at (855) 767-4291.
NICU & PICU Transport Team
When a child’s life possibly hangs in the balance, there is no time to lose. Palm Beach Children's Hospital provides transport services for critically ill neonatal and pediatric patients who need the intensive care or other specialized capabilities only a pediatric hospital offers.
The Critical Care Transport Team at St. Mary’s provides resuscitation, stabilization and inter-facility transfer of patients ranging from neonates to teenagers requiring care and treatment for a variety of medical and surgical diagnoses. These can include trauma and prematurity.
The team is comprised of nurses and respiratory therapists who have expertise in pediatric and/or neonatal intensive care, pediatric emergency nursing, trauma and critical care transport. In a transport situation, the referring facility speaks directly with our transfer center nurse to arrange the details of the transfer. Our team communicates directly with physicians at St. Mary’s to discuss management and patient disposition. Depending on the nature of the case, physicians who specialize in pediatric emergency medicine, pediatric intensive care or neonatal intensive care will consult on the case during transport.
*According to data collected from the Bureau of Vital Statistics between January 2015 and June 2016
