Neonatology

Advocate Children’s Hospital has four Level III NICUs to provide critically ill infants and premature newborns a second chance in a family-centered healing environment.

Although your baby’s medical needs may require them to be cared for in the NICU, you are still the most important person in your baby’s life. Your baby knows your voice and needs your touch. The NICU team at Advocate Children’s Hospital encourages every parent to talk to, touch and participate in the care of their infant as much as their child’s medical condition will allow.

Our micro-preemie units in Park Ridge and Oak Lawn provide specialized care for the tiniest, most vulnerable pre-term infants. Our critical care transport team transfers hundreds of mothers and infants annually from other area hospitals to our Level III NICUs for advanced care.

Our four Level III NICUs are located at Advocate Children’s Hospital in Park Ridge, Advocate Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn, Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove and Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago. Each NICU carries a Level III designation, the highest level available in Illinois. The designation reflects our expert ability to care for critically ill newborns with complex medical needs in an advanced clinical setting.

Working with our maternal fetal medicine colleagues at the Center for Fetal Care at Advocate Children’s Hospital, we collaborate on the most advanced diagnostics and interventions, including in-utero and exit procedures, related to a complex fetal diagnosis.

Our multidisciplinary teams, led by board-certified neonatologists, provide expert care in treating a wide variety of health problems in pre-term and medically fragile babies. Telehealth offers additional access to experts from other specialties at all campuses.
Both the Advocate Children’s Hospital campuses have specialized micro-preemie units for our tiniest, most vulnerable pre-term infants, creating an environment meant to reduce stimulation and improve survival rates.
Neonatology teams will work closely with your baby’s referring physician to ensure seamless ongoing care.
Follow-up clinics allow neonatology and other disciplines or subspecialists to monitor your infant’s progress toward milestones.
The Advocate Children’s Hospital - Park Ridge campus is home to our Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship Program. Fellows collaborate and participate in quality and research programs, helping to maintain the most advanced care models to provide the best, safest care possible.

Our Neonatology team provides a comprehensive range of medical and surgical interventions, allowing us to care for the smallest and sickest babies who may need any of the following:

Respiratory (breathing) assistance with mechanical ventilation (conventional or high frequency).
Inhaled nitric oxide for infants with severe lung problems.
Neurologic support including whole body hypothermia (cooling) and neurologic surgery.
Complex therapies such as ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation). We are accredited to provide a heart-lung bypass machine as therapy to assist babies who have certain anatomic and infectious concerns.
Dialysis treatment.
Continuous EEGs provide ability to monitor electrical activity of the brain for an extended time to assist in diagnosing neurologic and metabolic conditions.
Comprehensive surgical team provides general and specialized surgical procedures to treat many conditions common to both preterm and term babies such as:
- Repair of myelomeningocele (spina bifida).
- Shunt placement for hydrocephalus (water on the brain).
- Mandibular distraction (a procedure that corrects a small jaw which, without repair, causes difficulty with feeding and/or breathing).

On each campus, your family can use support areas for comfort, including kitchens, family restrooms and showers, as well as respite and consultation rooms. Campuses can accommodate overnight visitation. A fitness center is available on the Park Ridge campus.

Since we understand everyone has different schedules, we allow parents to visit their babies 24 hours a day.

To ensure emotional and spiritual bonding, we teach parents kangaroo care – holding your infant against your bare chest for therapeutic skin-to-skin contact.

The Advocate Children’s Hospital-Oak Lawn and Advocate Good Samaritan NICUs feature private rooms, including for the care of twins.

Both Advocate Children’s Hospital campuses offer support from our Child Life, Creative Arts Therapies and Education Departments, which focus on the emotional and developmental needs of your baby and your family.

Caring for a premature newborn or critically ill infant can be challenging. At Advocate Children’s Hospital, we provide you with the support and education you need to gain confidence and feel ready to take on these challenges both in the NICU and when you take your baby home. Some of our resources include:

Audiology services
Breastfeeding support
Children’s Health Resource Centers
CPR training
Neonatal developmental follow-up program
Nitric oxide therapy
Our New Baby Is in the Hospital: An Activity Book for Young Siblings [PDF]
Pediatric physical, occupational and speech therapies
Prematurity information

The Advocate Children’s Hospital - Oak Lawn campus is a co-perinatal center with the University of Illinois, providing the highest level of care for high-risk mothers and neonates. Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center is a co-perinatal center with Rush University Medical Center.

As a member of the Vermont Oxford Network, Advocate Children’s Hospital is among 1,300 hospitals worldwide that collaborate to consistently improve neonatal care through quality and research initiatives. We participate in Solutions for Patient Safety, a national network of more than 135 children’s hospitals, sharing best practices to ensure a safe and healing environment for all the mothers and babies we serve. We also participate in the Illinois Perinatal Quality Collaborative.