Premature or critically ill babies receive care from experts in our Level IV NICU – the highest level available

Babies who are born prematurely or who are critically ill need specialized care from an expert, compassionate team. The team at Johns Hopkins All Children’s includes more than 25 board-certified neonatologists who specialize in treating newborns who need advanced care. We also provide seamless access to specialty services and convenient follow-up care.

Our Approach to Neonatology and Caring For Your Baby 

A neonatologist is a doctor who specializes in caring for newborns, especially babies born prematurely or with other medical conditions. Our neonatologists care for infants with a wide range of birth defects in our 97-bed NICU. Our NICU has a Level IV designation from the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). The highest level available, this designation means that our NICU team provides the most advanced life support and monitoring technology for premature and critically ill infants.

Conditions We Treat

Our team cares for more than 900 babies each year in the NICU and has expertise in treating babies with very low and extremely low birth weight.

Conditions we treat include:

• Common and rare heart defects
• Congenital anomalies
• Congenital diaphragmatic hernia
• Congenital pulmonary airway malformation
• Esophageal atresia
• Extreme prematurity
• Gastroschisis
• Hirschsprung disease
• Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and other neurologic conditions
• Low birth weight and extremely low birth weight
• Neonatal abstinence syndrome
• Neonatal infections
• Pulmonary hypertension
• Respiratory failure
• Severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia
• Short bowel syndrome
• Tracheoesophageal fistula

Our programs and services support the health of mom and baby from in-utero to birth and beyond. When a family is expecting a newborn with a critical illness, our team counsels them on what to expect. For mothers with complex and high-risk pregnancies, our Fetal Care Program ensures the highest quality of seamless care for mom and baby, pre, during and post birth.

We provide several other specialized programs and services, including:

Tiny Baby Program

The Tiny Baby Program provides care for extremely premature babies born less than 26 weeks gestation, bringing together a highly skilled team that focuses on the unique medical and developmental needs of our smallest and most fragile patients.

Neonatal Follow-up Program

Our dedicated follow-up clinics monitor and assist with your child’s physical and cognitive development. The program includes specialized services for patients with specific health issues, including neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), intestinal disorders, congenital heart defects, oxygen deprivation to the brain, extremely low birth weight, and mothers affected by prenatal stress.

Neonatal Feeding Enhancement and Development Program

We provide care to neonates while they are acquiring independent oral feeding skills, working with families to help facilitate advancement of oral feeding skills to reduce reliance on the nasogastric tube (NG tube) that helps to feed babies while they have been receiving care in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Early Steps Program

Following discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), qualifying infants may be enrolled in Children’s Medical Services’ Early Steps Program, an early intervention program for infants at risk for developmental needs.

Nutrition Care Lab and Donor Milk

Sometimes in the hospital setting, direct breastfeeding isn’t possible. The Nutrition Care Lab provides a safe place for storage, preparation (including fortification) and delivery of mother’s pumped milk. Breastfeeding supplies and pump parts are available from the Care Lab. Lactation education and support for mothers and families is provided by our international board-certified lactation consultants. The Care Lab also offers processing of donor breast milk for our most premature infants and carries a variety of specialty formulas for those infants with specific nutritional needs.

Critical Care Transport

The LifeLine critical care transport team provides round-the-clock specialized transport care to critically ill newborns, infants, children and teens from throughout the state of Florida. Our team includes nurses and respiratory specialists who provide stabilization and specialized support until a child arrives at our hospital to receive advanced care.