Each September, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Awareness Month honors families who experience time in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and the professionals dedicated to bringing them hope and healing. This September offers special meaning for the team at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center’s (ARMC’s) NICU. It is celebrating 50 years of caring for babies and families.
Opened in Atlantic City 1972 in what was then Atlantic City Hospital, AtlantiCare’s NICU has continually enhanced its care and services for babies born too early or with medical needs. Today it is part of the Center for Childbirth at ARMC Mainland Campus in Pomona, and among many Women’s and Children’s services AtlantiCare provides.
Compassionate neonatal specialists, including experts from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), provide care 24/7. The NICU team also includes respiratory therapists, technicians, and other experts.
AtlantiCare has cared for tens of thousands of babies in the NICU over the last five decades. It provides advanced, around-the-clock care for babies born too early and or babies born with special medical needs. “As the regions only Level III NICU, we have the experience and technology to care for babies who are born as young as 22 weeks’ and/or weighing less than 1 pound,” said Jennifer Tioseco, M.D., medical director, CHOP Newborn Care Network and medical director, ARMC NICU.
AtlantiCare’s lowest surviving birthweight baby entered the world 16 weeks early weighing a mere 13.7 ounces.
“Babies we care for often defy tremendous odds,” said Tioseco, who has cared for babies in the NICU for 20 years. “They and their families inspire us. It is our privilege to give every infant the best chance at surviving, thriving, and living healthy lives.”
Tioseco said extensive and diverse medical issues babies face the team addresses include:
– Anemia, not having enough red blood cells, and jaundice, resulting from a malfunctioning liver
– Breathing and lung problems including apnea/irregular breathing, respiratory distress syndrome, bronchopulmonary dysplasia (a chronic lung disease), persistent pulmonary hypertension and pneumonia
– Heart defects and conditions including slow heart rate (bradycardia), narrow/restricted aorta, septal defects causing a hole in the wall that divides two chambers of the heart, heart valve abnormalities and patent ductus arteriosus—the most common heart problem in premature babies
– Inability to feed naturally and/or to keep warm
– Low blood sugar
The NICU team and AtlantiCare Physician Group’s OB/GYN and Maternal Fetal Medicine teams collaborate to care for women who have, or are at risk for high-risk pregnancies. Risk factors include:
– Being younger than age 16 or older than age 40
– Having had a previous premature birth or multiple miscarriages
– Getting pregnant less than six months after a last pregnancy –
– Conceiving through in vitro fertilization
– Being pregnant with multiples —twins, triplets, etc.
– Some chronic conditions, including high blood pressure and diabetes
– Smoking, vaping or using other tobacco products
– Having a substance use disorder
– Being underweight or overweight before pregnancy
– Stressful life events
-Having suffered physical injury or trauma
“I truly believe we have one of the most rewarding jobs in healthcare,” said Kristina Scott, BSN, RN, of Cape May County who has been working in the NICU since 2004. “Of all the responsibilities we have, the greatest one is being a source of hope for families at a critical time in their lives. I have had the honor of caring for thousands of babies in our NICU. Each baby is unique. Tears of joy are common in the NICU—whether we are caring for a baby for a few days, weeks, or months. We develop special bonds with babies and families. We lovingly call our former patients NICU graduates. It is heartening when parents and other family members share stories about their children starting school or marking other milestones. It is particularly exciting for us when NICU grads themselves reach out to us to show and tell us where they are, and what they’re doing now.”
In addition to having cared for babies in the NICU for nearly 20 years, Tioseco is a mother of twins who are among the NICU graduates.
To learn more about AtlantiCare’s NICU, Center for Childbirth, and other Women’s and Children’s Services, visit AtlantiCare.org or call 1-888-569-1000.
