Each level of care has its own admission criteria as follows.
Level 1 care is termed as special care and generally all babies born at 32 to 36 weeks gestation will be admitted for this level of care. Many of these babies require support in feeding, may require a small amount of oxygen or need regular electronic monitoring of vital signs for their condition. Babies who are cared for in high dependency will eventually move to Special Care when they are well enough.
Level 2 is high dependency care. All babies born between 28 and 32 weeks gestation require this level of care. Other babies requiring Level 2 care will include those that no longer need intensive care or those that require more specialist treatments such as non invasive oxygen therapy, intravenous nutrition or monitoring for seizure activity. Extremely premature babies who are cared for in NICU will eventually move to HDU when they are well enough.
Level 3 (intensive care) is for all babies born at less than 28 weeks gestation. These babies are likely to need continuous and complex intravenous infusions, advanced breathing support (possibly with a ventilator) or have blood borne infections requiring antibiotic treatment. Additionally, the Simpson NICU caters for babies that sometimes require laser eye treatment due to their extreme prematurity.
Parents should be aware that babies will sometimes move between these levels of care during their stay based on their prematurity and if they require more specialist care.
