Welcome to St. Louis Children’s Hospital NICU

Welcoming a new baby is one of life's happiest moments. However, when your child needs the specialized care of a newborn intensive care unit (NICU), that joy can turn to worry. Whether your baby was born nearby at Barnes-Jewish Hospital or transferred here from another childbirth center, rest assured that St. Louis Children’s Hospital NICU is the best possible place for them. Here, newborns with special health concerns receive exceptional care from a team of highly trained neonatal specialists.

The St. Louis Children’s Hospital NICU difference

St. Louis Children’s Hospital is nationally renowned for its exceptional newborn care, combining leading medical practices with a commitment to caring for your whole family. While your child is a patient at our NICU, your family will benefit from:

• Advanced medical care: As a Level 4 NICU, we offer the highest level of medical care available for our smallest and most vulnerable patients, treating more than 1,400 babies each year.
• Expert providers: Our NICU includes specialists from all pediatric subspecialities, providing comprehensive care for all newborns. We partner with Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University Physicians, offering access to leading medical experts and leading-edge research from all three institutions in one convenient location. Our doctors also participate in clinical trials and research to develop new therapies and advance existing treatments, improving the long-term health of medically fragile infants.
• Multidisciplinary medical teams: Your baby’s care team is led by expert neonatologists who will partner with you to make medical decisions guided by the best scientific and clinical evidence. Our team includes specialized nurses, NICU pharmacists, dieticians, respiratory therapists, neonatology fellows, residents and nurse practitioners. Experts in our department of therapy services provide physical, occupational and speech therapy, all working collaboratively to offer holistic treatment.
• Dedicated nurses: Our team of nurses gets to know your baby intimately, making it easier to notice subtle health changes. You'll come to know these nurses as family, working together to care for your baby.
• Patient- and family-centered care: We understand the importance of family involvement in your baby’s care. Our approach to patient- and family-centered care means we always work in partnership with you to make decisions about your baby’s well-being, and we care for your whole family.
• Technology that keeps you connected: If you are apart from your baby, you can call your designated NICU nurse to set up a virtual visit using a secure platform, allowing you to see your baby in real-time and receive updates on their care.
• Continued care after the NICU: Our commitment to your baby’s health extends beyond their time in the NICU. Many babies still need specialized care and monitoring after they’re discharged. Our Newborn Medicine Clinic provides ongoing care for NICU graduates through the age of 2 or 3. We also offer several follow-up programs in multidisciplinary specialty clinics for specific conditions including:
  • Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Clinic
  • Neurocritical care
  • Cleft palate and craniofacial anomalies
  • Congenital diaphragmatic hernia
  • ECMO
  • Spina bifida
  • Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome
  • Nephrology/urology

NICU support services

Our support services contribute to the well-being of your baby by bridging the gap between medical treatment and family support. The following services can help ensure your whole family receives important information and education, feels emotionally cared for and has access to helpful resources during a challenging time.

• Breastfeeding support: We’re committed to ensuring every baby has access to breast milk because we believe it’s the best nutrition for medically vulnerable infants. Our lactation experts are here to support you on your breastfeeding journey, and we also offer the option to feed your baby donor breast milk.
• Dedicated social workers: If you need help coordinating transportation, navigating your medical insurance coverage or understanding financial assistance, our social workers are here to partner with you and connect you to resources.
• Language services: St. Louis Children’s Hospital has interpreters available for patients and family members who need help with communication. These services are provided free of charge.
• NICU Family Partners: Former St. Louis Children’s Hospital NICU parents provide support to current NICU families, helping to foster partnerships with your baby’s care team and connect you to resources, as well as offering a listening ear.
• Child Life Services: Our Child Life providers are dedicated to the development and emotional well-being of our NICU infants and families through play, music, art and education. They can also help older siblings adjust to the new baby, especially one who is in the NICU.
• Perinatal Behavioral Health Services: Board-certified therapists offer emotional and mental support, helping NICU families develop coping and self-care skills, access counseling, and receive referrals to community resources.

Advanced medical care: Specialized services, programs and treatments offered at the NICU

At St. Louis Children’s Hospital, we’re committed to providing the highest quality care for our smallest patients, ensuring they have the best start of life. In our NICU, babies can receive advanced medical care from dedicated specialists using state-of-the-art treatments, therapies and technology.

• Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO): This advanced heart-lung support system is designed for infants with severely weakened hearts and/or lungs. The NICU at St. Louis Children’s Hospital was certified as an ELSO Platinum ECMO center, the highest designation possible. St. Louis Children’s Hospital is one of the few ECMO centers in the nation who can provide excellent extracorporeal life support to infants.
• Small baby program: Babies born earlier than 28 weeks gestation or weighing less than 1000 grams need minimal light, sound and other stimulus to help reduce their stress and overstimulation and help with their development. Our multidisciplinary team has specialized expertise in caring for extremely premature infants and our NICU features dedicated space for them.
• Kidney and renal (nephrology) care: Our specialists treat infants with congenital and acquired kidney diseases including renal failure and renal transplantation. St. Louis Children’s Hospital is the only center in the region offering modified aquapheresis (ultrafiltration) therapy for neonates, significantly improving the care of newborns with chronic kidney disease or acute kidney injury while eliminating many of the potential complications these infants face.
• Neurological care: Our Neonatal Neurocritical Care Program treats infants with conditions affecting the brain, nerves and spinal cord. Our NICU team collaborates with neonatal neurologists and neurosurgeons, using advanced technology such as therapeutic hypothermia and continuous video EEG to provide comprehensive neurological care
• Genomic medicine: Our genetic counselors provide tailored care for babies with genetic or inherited conditions, ensuring treatment is based on each infant’s unique genetic makeup.
• Pediatric specialists: We offer expert consultation and treatment for specific conditions in infants and children, including common and complex issues in gastroenterology, urology, and ear, nose and throat, as well as craniofacial and vascular anomalies.
• Heart care: Our nationally recognized Heart Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital is the region’s largest pediatric heart center. Cardiac specialists treat infants in our NICU with congenital heart disease, including performing surgeries and heart transplants.
• Lung care: As a world leader in lung transplants for children with conditions such as cystic fibrosis and pulmonary vascular disease, we offer advanced respiratory care, including surfactant therapy (a medicine that helps premature babies breath more easily), conventional ventilation and high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (a type of rapid breathing machine necessary for some infants to help their lungs develop and heal).
• Onsite pharmacists and dietitians: Our team includes dedicated pharmacists and dietitians to support the complex medical needs of our NICU patients.

How the design of our NICU supports your baby

When your baby is in our NICU, we want you to be close. We believe proximity to your baby fosters bonding, supports emotional needs and allows you to be active in their day-to-day care. Our NICU was designed to enable our providers to give your baby the best around-the-clock care, and it features patient- and family-centered amenities to ensure you have everything you need as well. Our NICU:

• Is just steps away from Barnes-Jewish Hospital’s Labor and Delivery unit. Mothers and infants who need specialized medical attention are always close. Our NICU is connected to labor and delivery at Barnes-Jewish Hospital via a bridge, ensuring mothers and infants are never more than 100 feet apart. For mothers who have high-risk pregnancies, the delivery team at St. Louis Children’s Hospital’s NICU is always on the clock — and just minutes away from your delivery room at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
• Features advanced technology. You can rest assured that all eyes are on your baby. A central monitoring system allows staff to closely watch every infant in our NICU, even when the provider is not in the room.
• Has everything you need for all-inclusive care. To minimize infection risk and provide a soothing and stable environment, your baby stays in the NICU. We bring imaging equipment and other diagnostic tools to your baby rather than moving them.
• Supports your breastfeeding journey. We are dedicated to making sure all babies are able to receive breast milk in our NICU because we believe it boosts immunity and supports healthy growth and development. To assist you in your feeding journey, we offer electric breast pumps, and our lactation consultants are on hand to help with breastfeeding and pumping. When appropriate, we offer donated breast milk for the first few days after birth or longer for premature infants. Our NICU features a state-of-the-art milk room for infant nutrition preparation and breast milk storage. Learn more about breastfeeding your baby.

Read more about what to expect during your baby’s NICU stay at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

Contact us about NICU admission

If you are seeking a second opinion or wish to transfer your infant to the newborn intensive care unit (NICU) at St. Louis Children's Hospital, your baby’s doctor can arrange the transfer by contacting the Children's direct physician access line at 800-678-HELP (4357). Our specially trained critical care transport team is available day or night to respond.

For those diagnosed with a congenital defect or anomaly wanting to consult a neonatologist or other pediatric specialist before your infant's birth, please ask your doctor to reach out to the Fetal Care Center by contacting 866-867-3627. A nurse coordinator from the Fetal Care Center will assist with coordinating appointments, tests and NICU tours. 

St. Louis Children’s Hospital is located at One Children’s Place, St. Louis, MO 63110.