Giving Parents an Active Role

Baby with plushy puppy

At Cook Children's, we recognized the important role that parents play as part of their baby's care. We have found that our single room design makes it more comfortable for parents to speak to the medical team, to ask questions and to determine the level of participation they're comfortable with. As parents, you can discuss the care of your child and you can be involved in the treatment plan–all in the privacy of your baby's room. You can also enjoy skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding when it's safe to do so.

Specialized care

Part of what makes us a Level IV neonatal intensive care unit is our amazing technology, and that includes our all single room Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

As part of our advanced care, Cook Children's is one of only a handful of NICUs nationwide to provide single patient rooms. Our state-of-the-art NICU features 99 rooms and 106 beds to provide the highly specialized intensive care services that medically fragile babies need.

For many ill and premature babies, the bright lights and noise of a traditional NICU setting can create sensory overload in these already fragile infants. This affects heart rate and increases stress on their delicate systems.

Studies show that premature and medically fragile babies heal and grow faster when they are in a more controlled environment where lighting, noises and distractions are kept to a minimum. Single patient rooms have also been shown to improve the quality of individualized attention and care that each baby receives from our clinical staff, as well as reducing risk of infection and improving overall outcomes.

Multiple birth - single room

Babies from a multiple birth pregnancy have a higher risk of premature birth. Our single rooms are uniquely designed so that twins, triplets and even quads can stay together in a single room. Having a baby in the NICU is already stressful. Having your babies in a single room can help ease some of the stress and anxiety of having one baby separate from another. And, studies show that premature and medically fragile babies heal and grow faster when they are close to their parents.

The best care possible

When you choose Cook Children's Level IV NICU you can trust that your baby is getting the very best care possible, including:

Highly trained pediatric specialists including cardiologists, pulmonologists, neurologists, nephrologists and geneticists.
An experienced neonatal transport team available to travel to high-risk deliveries.
Neonatologists onsite 24/7.
Hypothermia treatment for babies whose hearts, brains and lungs need to recover from trauma.
A hyperinsulinism program to treat children with above normal insulin levels. The program is one of just two in the country.
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) to help babies recover from surgeries or disease treatments.
A team of nurses dedicated to preventing central line infections successfully for more than two years and counting.
Full-time lactation consultants.
A staff dedicated to including parents in daily reports about their baby.

World-class support

Our NICU support services include:

Award-winning nurses.
Child Life specialists
Educators who prepare parents for at-home care.
Physical and occupational therapists specifically trained in newborn and developmental care.

We're here to help.

If you are interested in scheduling a tour of our NICU, please call 682-885-4375. You can find information on how to refer a patient or other NICU contact information here.