How much equipment and what an individual baby will require depends very much on the health problems the baby is experiencing. Babies can be very premature with immature lungs and have difficulty breathing, they could have
meconium aspiration syndrome, heart, brain or kidney problems or abnormalities or the baby may require an operation (or may be recovering from an operation).
Seeing a baby with numerous tubes and wires attached to their little bodies can magnify the awareness of their vulnerability. Knowing that they are necessary to give oxygen, fluids, nourishment and medications to treat the baby's condition and support their health may help parents accept their presence. Some parents even find it difficult to make the transition to not having the technology to rely on monitoring their baby.
The baby's caregivers will usually set aside time to go through each piece of equipment and what it is doing for the baby. Once the baby is breathing on their own and their health stabilises they will usually be moved to the level 2 area of the nursery.
Baby' bedding and clothing
Monitors and alarms
Intravenous line
Feeding tubes
Ventilation equipment
Baby's bedding and clothing. Babies who are very unwell need to be attached to many monitors and machines and need to be accessed frequently by the caregivers treating them. To facilitate this, most babies will be cared for on what is called an 'open bed', with no covering under a specially regulated overhead heater. The baby will usually be cared for naked, or with just a nappy on. Sometimes they will have a bonnet or a pair of booties on to keep their head and feet warm.
Monitors and alarms. All babies in level 3 will have various types of monitoring equipment to some degree. How much monitoring required will ultimately depend on how unwell the baby is.
The monitors are used to check and track the baby's: