Healthier Hawaii: Kapiolani’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Dr. Alexandra Ramnath, Chief of Neonatology for Hawaii Pacific Health, discusses the responsibilities of caring for babies in need of extra care after birth.
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The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children is the largest in the state.
The unit cares for about 1,000 of the state’s most medically fragile babies every year.
Most NICU patients are born prematurely, as early as 22 weeks. A full-term pregnancy is about 40 weeks.
Newborns can receive cardiac surgeries and other specialized procedures that are not available elsewhere in the state.
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Kapiolani Medical Center’s NICU also supports the families of the babies they treat, offering lactation and breast feeding support for mothers, support for fathers and siblings during these critical times, and access to social workers to help coordinate long NICU stays.
For babies in need of specialized care on neighbor islands, Kapiolani’s transport team flies families to Oahu for treatment.
The team transports about 200 babies per year.
The 20th Annual Kapiolani Radiothon for Kids returns to the center’s dining room Sept. 17 and 18.
The funds raised during the event will go toward NICU services and equipment, such as infant incubators, video laryngoscopy to give doctors a clearer view of infant airways, and books for families to read to their babies.
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