Leadership in Neonatology: Our Newborn Care is Top in the Nation
For nearly 100 years, leading neonatal researchers and pediatric specialists at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital have led the efforts to develop and advance newborn care. The result is a longstanding tradition of innovation and quality care.
UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital is ranked among the top in the nation for neonatology according to U.S. News & World Report,and our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is among the best in the nation–with some of the highest NICU survival rates.
Recognized as Northern Ohio’s Best Hospital for Neonatology.
As a leader in the treatment of critically ill and extremely low-birth weight babies, our team continues to raise the standards of care for this fragile population. Advances in neonatal care have been developed right here in Cleveland that have improved international standards of care. These higher standards of care are saving newborns’ lives around the globe.
Pioneering Newborn Treatments
UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital was one of four founding members of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Development Neonatal Research Network. This consortium of 16 elite centers nationwide that is credited with laying the foundation for evidence-based care and innovating many of the new treatments in neonatology over the past two decades.
We were among the first hospitals in the country–and the first in Ohio–to offer extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO),inhaled nitric oxide, and other therapies as standard care for newborns with breathing problems. Today, our ECMO Center has been recognized with the Excellence in Life Support Award by the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization.
Our team has researched and advanced the use of innovative treatments such as therapeutic cooling therapy for encephalopathy in newborns. We’ve also helped define and develop new standards of care for treating neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS)–a condition that can occur in newborns exposed to opioids.
Newborn Spaces Designed for Healing
Spaces at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s are designed for our tiniest patients. The Level IV Quentin & Elisabeth Alexander Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and our Transitional Care Center are among the first of their kind, with 82 beds in total for newborns and private rooms for family bonding time and quiet healing.
The highly advanced and first-of-its-kind RainbowFlex bed, named for our team of newborn specialists who developed it, optimizes healing and allows surgical procedures to be performed at the bedside. This kind of innovation helps minimize disruption to healing by keeping newborns in the NICU for procedures versus the need for transport off the floor for surgery, while specialty equipment helps diagnose and treat newborns for any condition.
Raising the Bar for Family-Centered Care
Our specialists work collaboratively with Maternal Fetal Medicine during high-risk pregnancies, keeping the family at the core of every care decision. Once baby arrives, we continue a strong family-centered care approach. Research and studies, including our own landmark research on parent–infant bonding, show newborns heal and develop better when their families are close by.
At UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, parents are invited to stay with their babies 24/7 and are kept informed, updated and involved throughout their baby’s hospital stay. Once baby is sent home, he or she can continue receiving follow up care from our newborn specialists closer to home at one of our community clinics.
Our family-centered care model has been adopted by many other hospitals around the country and is setting a new standard of care for newborns.