Learning that a baby will be born with a medical condition can be devastating. The Fetal Care Center at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital understands the emotions parents experience when they learn their infant has a medical diagnosis. The center offers a medical home to those families, to support and care for the infant throughout the care journey, from diagnosis to delivery as well as the transition to infant care.
The Fetal Care Center’s services include diagnostic testing, prenatal counseling, genetic consultations, surgical planning with pediatric specialists and much more.
Special Delivery Unit for High-Risk InfantsIn 2019, the hospital opened a 10-bed special delivery unit for healthy mothers of high-risk infants that will require immediate access to neonatal intensive care or cardiac critical care after birth. The center is staffed by obstetric hospitalists and nurses specialized in labor and delivery who collaborate with community obstetricians and maternal fetal medicine specialists, as well as pediatric specialists, on the care of the mother and child.
The special delivery unit makes it possible for families to remain together at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital following the birth, creating a less stressful transition for the entire family.
Other services include lactation consultations, child life therapy, music therapy and much more.Features of the Special Delivery Unit
• 5 labor and delivery rooms
• 5 antepartum rooms
• Fetal operating room and C-section room
• Family waiting area
Nurse Navigators
Our Fetal Care Center nurse navigators are available 24 hours-a-day to coordinate appointments and consultations with the hospital’s pediatric specialists. The nurses serve as points of contact for community physicians, pediatricians, perinatologists and neonatologists. They available via phone or text to answer questions, relieve anxiety and help parents feel at ease. The goal is to help the parents feel fully prepared for the day of delivery and the days following the birth.
