Who are these babies?

We look after babies who are very premature, babies who are very small and some babies who are a good size but become unwell for all sorts of reasons.

Why do they come to us?

Because we can provide the specialist intensive care to support them until they are big enough and strong enough to cope on their own. As a major specialist centre Newcastle also offers surgery for newborn babies (including cardiac surgery). It is also one of only 4 centres in the UK providing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) – a specialist treatment for babies with very severe heart or lung disease.

How do they come to us?

Many of these babies are referred before birth to the Fetal Medicine Service at the RVI and others come to us after they are born. Our unique Neonatal Transfer Team is nationally recognised for its excellence.

What do we do for them?

Some babies are very ill and need the expertise of all the different specialists. Some are born a little too early or a little too small and just need quite simple care to keep them healthy until they are ready for home. Not every baby needing a little extra care has to come into Special Care. We pride ourselves on keeping as many babies as possible under our care with their Mums on the postnatal wards.