Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine

Overview

Physicians in the Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine provide care for critically ill and premature infants in the 48-bed Newborn Critical Care Center (NCCC) at North Carolina Children’s Hospital. The NCCC is served by 10 board-certified attending neonatologists, 14 nurse practitioners, and more than 150 neonatal specialists from UNC Hospitals. The Center averages 750 admissions annually, providing care to newborns from over 50 North Carolina counties.

All major consultative services, including the pediatric surgery specialties, are available to assist in the management of neonatal-perinatal patients. The division's faculty utilizes a multidisciplinary approach to patient care, with pediatric subspecialists, pediatric surgical specialists, radiologists, pediatric physical therapists, nutritionists and social workers assisting in the care of infants. Specialized services for critically ill newborns include nitric oxide, ECMO (performed in the PICU), and high-frequency ventilation. Learn more about the Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine and its clinical offerings by visiting the division's Web site.

Special Services

Infant/Pediatric Transport Service

A hospital-based Pediatric/Neonatal transport team has been in operation at UNC Hospitals since 1975 and is part of the Carolina Air Care, the UNC Hospitals transport service. The transport team has 13 members with over 120 years of combined transport service. Every critically ill infant transport includes a specially trained pediatric respiratory therapist and a neonatal critical care nurse.

The Transport team utilizes 2 UNC aeromedical helicopters, fixed-wing airplanes, and a specialized pediatric-transport ambulance to bring a mobile intensive care unit to the patient. An active back transport program returns infants to community hospitals.

Special Infant Care Clinic

The Division of Neonatal/Perinatal Medicine directs the Special Infant Care Clinic, a multidisciplinary outpatient follow-up clinic designed to identify and treat developmental problems associated with perinatal illness or prematurity. The clinic offers a multidisciplinary team approach to the developmental follow-up of high-risk infants from birth to 2 years of age. The team includes the services of a neonatologist, developmentalist, nutritionist, physical therapist, social worker, audiologist, and ophthalmologist, complementing the health care provided by the referring physician in the local community.

Contact Information
PHONE (general information): (919) 966-5063
PHONE (neonatal referral or transport): (919) 966-3481 or (800) 862-6264
PHONE (referral to Special Infant Care Clinic): (919) 966-3476
FAX: (919) 966-3034

Newborn Critical Care Center Family Advisory Board

The NCCC Family Advisory Board was created in 2006 to educate health care providers and improve care in the NCCC. More information can be found on the NCCC Family Advisory Board page.