About Chelsea & Westminster NICU
About Neonatal Care
All expectant parents hope that their babies will be born healthy. Yet sometimes problems arise that require a newborn to need neonatal care. Being born prematurely, having a difficult delivery or antenatal concerns are all reasons a baby may be admitted to a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
At Chelsea and Westminster Hospital we provide specialist care to the sickest and most vulnerable babies, those born early (from 23 weeks), with low weight or who have a medical condition such as heart problems, infections, or birth defects. Care is provided in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) which contains an Intensive Care Unit, a High Dependency Unit and a Special Care Unit depending on baby’s health and development needs. The length of a baby’s stay in NICU may vary from minutes or hours through to considerable support over many weeks, or even months depending on their needs.
Our existing neonatal intensive care facilities.
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (across two sites at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and West Middlesex University Hospital) is the second largest maternity provider in the country and we help deliver one baby every 45 minutes. The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital is the regional surgical referral unit for North West London, caring for the most complex cases. We admit babies from within this area, from all over London and South East England for specialist medical and surgical care.
The Giraffe Omnibed Carestation
To help complete our fundraising for the new Neonatal Unit we are seeking donations to purchase a Giraffe OmniBed Carestation. This key piece of equipment is called a Giraffe OminiBed Carestation and is designed to care for critically ill babies. Each Carestation enables the baby to remain in the cot for transfer to theatre and to be operated on with minimal movement and stress. And for those parents who are unable to hold their baby, they can adjust the angle and height of the cot to be closer to their baby. This is incredibly important for the bonding process and helps reduce any psychological trauma the parents will be experiencing from having their baby in a neonatal unit.
