Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

You and your baby will receive the highest level of care available in Wisconsin in our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), just in case your baby is born with a complex medical problem or requires surgery.

A promise of expert care

Mothers and babies admitted to the 26-bed NICU at American Family Children’s Hospital come from near and far. Whether you live hours away or in the Madison area, you and your baby will receive the most attentive expert care in the region from our experts in neonatology, pediatric surgery and every pediatric specialty. In many cases, our pediatric/neonatal critical care transport team (ground and air) brings babies to the NICU because every minute is precious.

What types of babies do we care for?

Our Level IV NICU team cares for babies who:

• Require surgery, including abdominal, genitourinary, head and neck, thoracic, heart and vascular or musculoskeletal

• Have suffered a brain injury or stroke

• Have seizures or other neurologic disorders

• Require diagnostic imaging, such as an MRI

• Were born prematurely

• Have congenital heart disease

• Require cardiac catheterization

• Have metabolic or genetic disorders

Treatments and services

Our Level IV NICU provides the highest level of care for babies, including these treatments and services:

• Neonatal neuro critical care program

• High-frequency and NAVA ventilation

• Access to maternal-fetal specialist doctors 24/7

• Neonatal surgery

• Nitric Oxide

• Surfactant replacement therapy

• Whole body cooling to treat hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE)

• Nasogastric bridle tube insertion for going-home feeds