For the smallest of the small: St. David's expands North Austin NICU to help more preemies

Austin's smallest babies will move Monday into the expanded neonatal intensive care unit at St. David's Women's Center of Texas, inside St. David's North Austin Medical Center.

NICUs take care of the sickest babies, including those born prematurely or with congenital defects.

The unit will grow from 67 beds to 97. The expansion has been needed for a long time, said Amy Irons, director of neonatal services at the hospital.

"It's the growth of the market. This has been an answer to the community need," she said.

Doctors at the hospital, at Parmer Lane and MoPac Boulevard, deliver about 900 babies a month. About three years ago, they delivered 600 a month, Irons said.

The NICU has been over capacity for some time, she said. On Friday, there were 78 babies NICU babies at the hospital, with only 67 dedicated NICU bays, also called pods. The hospital has been using its regular nursery for NICU overflow space and has kept twins and triplets in the same pod.

The NICU expansion has meant adding 36 NICU nurses, Irons said.

This expansion is designed for the smallest of the small — micro preemies, those babies born before 26 weeks' gestation or weighing less than 1,500 grams (a little more than 3 pounds).

The need for space for micro preemies has grown, Irons said. Babies born this young used to be unusual, but the hospital now sees about 15 micro preemies born each month, she said.

In this new space, the lights will be dimmed and the area will be kept quiet for micro preemies to thrive. Each pod has a curtain that can be pulled for privacy, but low half-walls sectioning the pods keep nurses in sight. Twenty of the beds will be dedicated to micro preemies.

The expansion also allows the NICU to grow its specialized neurology area from four beds to 10. The new beds have electroencephalography machines to measure brain waves. Cameras allow neurologists to monitor the baby's EEGs remotely. The babies in these specialized rooms have had seizures, a brain bleed or a loss of oxygen to the brain. This area also has cooling equipment, which can drop a baby's temperature after a loss of oxygen to the brain to help prevent further permanent damage.

"Babies that would not have survived or would have had permanent damage are now normal," said Dr. David Breed, the medical director for the hospital's NICU. "It's a great improvement."

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The Ronald McDonald House rooms inside the hospital also were renovated. These are rooms, like a hotel, where families can stay while their babies are in the NICU. There is also a community space for all NICU parents.

This unit is just part of the expansion at the Women's Center. Next month, the hospital will increase its labor and delivery space, growing from 29 rooms to 36, with four family suites; the postpartum space will expand from 71 rooms to 97; and the antepartum area will grow from 16 rooms to 24. Antepartum is for people after a complicated birth or people whose doctors are trying to prevent an early labor.

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Other local hospitals are also expanding their NICUs and labor and delivery spaces. Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas built a fourth tower last year, allowing it to double the size of its NICU by repurposing units that moved to the fourth tower.

Ascension Seton Medical Center is building an eight-story tower for women's health that is scheduled to open next year.

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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: St. David's North Austin expands NICU at Women's Center at Parmer Lane