Ickle Pickles

Raising money for Neonatal units.

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Neonatal care

A Neonatal Unit, NNU for short, is a dedicated hospital unit specialising in the care of extremely ill or premature newborn infants.

Premature babies are those born before 37 weeks. These babies can be defined as premature (before 37 weeks) or extremely premature (before 28 weeks).

NNUs are categorised based upon the level of care they provide. Level 3 Units contain a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, NICU, and provide the highest levels of intensive care to very ill term and premature infants.

Level 1 & 2 Units are able to provide short-term intensive care to sick infants, but generally manage infants with less complex needs than Level 3 units. They contain Special Care Nurseries, which provide specialised care for infants with less severe medical problems.

NICUs were developed in the 1950s and 1960s by paediatricians to provide better and safer care for newborn infants. They focused care on temperature support, isolation from infection risk, specialised feeding, and access to specialised equipment and resources.

Ickle Pickles may spend a day of observation in a NNU or many months there.

Often these Ickle Pickles cling onto their parent's fingers just as hard as they cling to life. Holding a tiny hand, even through an incubator hatch, provides the lifeline which helps parents and families to cope.

Today, medical improvements, expertise of care and technological advances mean that 90% of premature babies, who weigh 800g or more at birth, survive.

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Thanks to One Direct insurance for sponsoring our two Hampshire Summer parties!
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