A Guide to the NICU
It’s our pleasure to welcome you to Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Department at Hassabo International Hospital. We consider it an honor in HIH to care for your loved ones. Our NICU staff works together as a team with other consultants in multiple specialties to provide our patients the optimal care they deserve.
All parents hope their babies will be born healthy. Some babies, though, are born too soon and need special care. Others are born on time but have medical conditions that require extra support.
The new-born intensive care unit (NICU) at the Hassabo International Hospital is perfectly suited to meet the needs of these special babies. We’re committed to caring for you as well as for your baby. Having a baby in the NICU can be very stressful. Here you will receive compassionate support while your baby gets high-level medical care
Why Might a Baby Need the NICU?
There are many factors that can make a baby at high risk and increase his or her need for the NICU.Many healthy, full-term pregnancies may have unexpected complications. Under such circumstances, new-borns are often transferred to the NICU for the care they require. If the condition is urgent and time-sensitive, the difference between a trip down the highway and a trip down the hallway could make all the difference for you and your baby. HIH’s Neonatology team is qualified to test and treat for all of these conditions and each baby must be evaluated individually to determine if there is a need for NICU care.
The most important decision you’ll make during pregnancy is selecting the hospital where you’ll deliver your baby. So Hassabo International Hospital (HIH) has made that decision easy by providing reliable, experienced and comfortable care for newborns and mothers, all under one roof.
This unique combination of maternal health and new born services in one location is the hallmark of our HIH’s Centre for Pregnancy and New born Services. At HIH, the health of mothers and babies is our top priority; and so, we make our comprehensive medical services within easy reach. We provide clinical services for mother, foetus and new born which are scientifically supported by academic partnerships among participating faculty and our staff which is dedicated to the health and well-being of childbearing families from conception through infancy. This makes HIH the safest place for the newborn period.
Our comprehensive, neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is not only for high-risk pregnancies or premature births but also for full-term babies who need a little extra support unexpectedly.
Unfortunately, parents with a healthy pregnancy often think that their baby won’t need the services of a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). So, choosing the hospital helps decrease the chances that your healthy full-term baby to need high-risk services, and also ensures that if your baby does need extra support, by choosing HIH, we ensure that you’ll already be in the right place at the right time.
Being adjacent to the delivery department and accessible with a one button call, our expert doctors and registered nurse nursing staff in HIH nurseries are completely focused on providing the highest level of medical care.
Our NICU nursing staffs cares exclusively for high-risk new born. This expertise includes supporting families while their baby is receiving care. And, HIH critically ill babies are just steps away from their mothers, at all times.
About Us
Expert care you can trust

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at HIH provides around-the-clock, family centred care for babies that require advanced interventions, such as ventilators. We host a variety of equipment to monitor the new-born’s oxygen level, heart rate and respiration to provide highly specialized care, such as ventilation, surgery and incubation.
Infants of insulin diabetic mothers may also be admitted so doctors can monitor and follow up their development and check blood sugar levels.
HIH’s NICU Team
Do What it Takes to Start, To Have a Healthy Heart
HIH’s neonatology staff defines and delivers personalized, around-the-clock care of new born with critical or special care needs. They include:
- Neonatologist
A paediatrician who has completed an additional two to three years of specialized training in the care of premature and ill new-borns - NICU Nurse
A registered nurse who is trained to care for critically ill infants and attend to the concerns of their families - Operations Manager
A manager who is responsible for the management of financial, material and human resources for the NICU - Clinical Care Coordinator
A nurse with advanced training who is responsible, in collaboration with the other members of the patient care team, for the planning, priority setting, and coordination and evaluation of patient care - Information Associate
he/she acts as an administrative assistant to the NICU staff: the nurses, physicians, and respiratory therapists in caring for your child through writing orders, performing procedures and determining plans of care. He is also considered a receptionist for family and visitors to the NICU - Clinical Nurse Specialist
A professional licensed advanced nurse who serves as a resource to staff, patients, and physicians regarding complex health issues with new-borns. - Lactation Specialist
A nurse or physician with specialized training who is certified to assist women interested in breastfeeding
What We Do
The patients that we care for each day are more vulnerable and dependent than healthy new-borns. They enter the world too early or in crisis – some do not even have the ability to perform such simple functions as breathing on their own. Fortunately, our dedicated NICU team of physicians, NICU nurses, respiratory therapists and the other members draw upon their experience through advanced skills and compassion to provide the most possible care for their smallest patients.
NICU babies may have a range of medical issues for our team to address. Some include:
- Prematurity (24–37 weeks’ gestation)
- Respiratory distress syndrome RDS (difficulties with breathing)
- Congenital anomalies (birth defects)
- Metabolic disorders (disturbance in metabolism processes)
- Retinopathy of prematurity (problems with vision)
The Services & conditions we treat

- All neonatal surgical conditions
- Ventilator care for respiratory problems
- Surfactant therapy for infants with premature lungs
- Respiratory distress syndrome
- Nitric Oxide therapy
- Total parenteral nutrition
- Sophisticated incubators for maintaining an infant’s body temperature
- Chronic lung disease management
- Cardiac anomalies (medical management)
- Cardiovascular support
- Sepsis
- Gastrointestinal and renal disorders
- Neurological/neurosurgical conditions
- Primary metabolic defects
- Congenital anomalies & abnormalities
- Complex birth defects
- Hyperbilirubinemia, exchange transfusion
- Genetic disorders and malformations
- Cooling therapy
- High-risk Infant follow-up program
What you May See
Owing to very specialized needs of NICU babies, you may see many monitors, tubes, wires, and specialized lighting connected to your baby. When you hear alarming sounds from these monitors, don’t worry! these monitors and their sounds help nurses and physicians determine the needs of your child.
We sometimes keep the lighting in the NICU muted. Don’t worry! This is done to help your infant sleep more comfortably. More sleep can help them to grow and mature.
You may see your baby connected to tubes, ventilators, high-frequency oscillators and other respiratory devices. This means your child need assisted breathing.
You may also see medications and nutritional fluids being delivered to your infant through intravenous tubing (an IV) and/or feeding tube.
Often NICU infants need to have light therapy for jaundice conditions. This lighting may be from above, below or both. During this, the infants’ eyes are covered by a cloth that looks like sunglasses to protect their eyes from the bright lights.
If you have any questions or concerns about the use of any of these items, feel free to ask any of the nurses, physicians, or respiratory therapists.
What you Can Do
We know that having your baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is stressful, so here we help you to be with your child as much as possible
Parents are welcome in the NICU at any time as we promote the concepts of family-centred care. Family-centred care means that parents are partners with the health care team in all decisions about their infant.
Important Information for Parents and Visitors

The staff of HIH understands the unique and positive impact that loving families and caregivers can have in helping babies grow and become healthier.
We invite you to visit your baby while he/she is in the NICU, but for the safety and health of all the babies, the NICU has specific requirements of visitors
Family/Visitors – We appreciate that family support is valuable during this time. They are welcome to come to the unit and see your baby as long as they are accompanied by a parent with an ID band. We are committed to environmental constraints; so, there can be only one visitor and a parent at a bedside at any given time.
Due to limited space and infection control issues, only two people are allowed to be at the bedside at a time
Parents can check on their infant anytime except during shift report by calling the NICU. The Information Associate will ask for the child’s last name and who is calling then he/she will connect you with the baby’s primary care physician to receive the latest information about your infant’s condition. The primary care physician will request you to give the phone identifier number to ensure patient confidentiality.
Important Tips When Visiting
- All visitors should be with a good health and free of infection or illness during the visit. For persons who feel ill or have experienced any of the following symptoms within the last 48 hours, they should not visit the hospital. These symptoms include fever, cough, sneezing, runny nose, sore throat, skin rash, vomiting or diarrhoea.
- Visitors should respect all of our patients’ needs for rest and privacy.
- Patient information is confidential and should not be discussed in public areas.
- Typically nurses will change shifts at 7:45 a.m to 8:15 a.m., 7:45 p.m to 8:15 p.m . At these times, a shift-to-shift report will take place. Please allow the nurses this time to exchange important information about the patient’s condition. This report is necessary to ensure a smooth transition of care.
- HIH requires guests to refrain from smoking or any other tobacco use anywhere on HIH’s property.
- Visitors should not bring food or drinks into the critical care areas. Check with the nurse before bringing food to a patient.
Visiting Guidelines
For the safety of our patients and families, the unit is a locked unit. To enter, please press the button outside the entry doors. A staff member will let you in and out of the unit.
When first admitted to the unit, many things need to happen quickly for your baby’s well being. Please feel free to come and see where your baby will be in our unit and then give the medical team approximately one hour to settle your baby in be¬fore you have a prolonged visit.
To keep your baby safe and to ensure confidentiality, you will be asked to show your ID band that matches your baby one on entering the unit, at your baby’s bedside, or if you call for phone updates. When calling, you will be asked to read the number on that band to the staff for identification
Please keep the ID band on all the time. As It is your primary source of identification for entry and to get information about your baby during their stay.
Our hospital policy is to provide information to parents or legal guardians only.
To help prevent infection, everyone entering the unit MUST wash their hands at the desk before going to see their baby. Please wash your hands or use the hand disinfectant any time before or after you touch your baby. You will see our staff doing this too.
There may be times that we have to limit the number people. Please speak with your baby’s nurse regarding how many people can be at the bedside. These decisions will be based on your baby’s condition and the condition of the other babies in the unit. Additional people will have to wait in the NICU waiting room which is located at the entrance to the unit.
To provide your baby with the safest care possible, the unit may need to close to all visitors except parents without prior notice. Please look for a sign posted on the NICU entrance.
Before Your Child Goes Home
For the health and safety of your child, they must reach the following milestones prior to discharge:
- Maintain normal body temperature in an open crib
- Eat all their feedings from a bottle or breast
- Not require any IV mediations or fluids
- Have normal heart and respiratory rates
- Show consistent weight gain
Our Appreciation
The staff understands that your infant’s admission to the NICU can be a stressful time for the family and loved ones. We appreciate your understanding, cooperation and patience in helping the staff provide the best care possible. We encourage you to ask the infant’s primary nu physician about any questions or concerns you have.
Questions & Comments
If, after reading this leaflet, you still have questions, please do not hesitate to ask the Specialists or nurses in our unit. They will be happy to give you more information or arrange a meeting with the Consultant / Medical Director.
We would appreciate it if you could let us know whether you are satisfied with our care. For this purpose, a visitor’s book & patient satisfaction form is available in each of our departments. We would like you to write down your comments, experiences and/or suggestions for improvement, so that we can share this with our staff members. This input may help us to improve the service at the hospital.
The Medical Director /patient & care provider service center can be reached on
01006625687 – 23520003 – 23521002 – 23520008 – 23521006 – 23521007 – 23520040
or via the e-mail address: