Newborn Care
Specialized care to help your baby grow and thrive
Welcoming a baby into the world is one of life’s most momentous occasions.
Our pediatricians and newborn (neonatology) experts are passionate about supporting families during these magical, and sometimes stressful, first days of parenting.
We provide complete services to protect your baby’s health after childbirth and help ensure they continue to thrive after discharge. Our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), the largest and most advanced in New England, provides the highest level of care for newborns with critical health needs.
Our approach to newborn care
We encourage families to stay together throughout the birth process and during the hospital stay. Our Baby-Friendly designations from Baby-Friendly USA®, an international credentialing program for hospitals, reflects our commitment to parent-baby bonding through:
- Breastfeeding support from certified lactation counselors
- Rooming in with your baby
- Skin-to-skin contact (kangaroo care)
Your baby gets state-mandated newborn screening tests to check for serious conditions before they go home.
These tests include:
- Blood tests for blood disorders, cystic fibrosis, spinal muscular atrophy, and other conditions.
- Hearing (audiology) test to check for hearing loss.
- Jaundice screenings and phototherapy to treat jaundice, if needed.
- Pulse oximetry (blood oxygen) screening to check for critical congenital heart defects.
Our hospital-based newborn care team cares for your baby from birth through discharge. We teach families about safety, which includes back-to-sleep and car seat safety training.
We partner with you to make sure your baby sees a pediatrician or family medicine provider within 48 hours of going home. Your family may also benefit from a home visit from a care agency.
Newborn health conditions and treatments
- Congenital Heart Defects
- Newborn Jaundice
- Newborn Hyperbilirubinemia
- Prematurity
- Low Birth Weight
- Newborn Sepsis
- Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS)
- Transient Tachypnea of the Newborn
- Birth Defects in Newborn Babies
- Very Low Birth Weight
- Apnea of Prematurity
- Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension in the Newborn
- Newborn Metabolic Screening
- Hearing Screening Tests for Newborns
- Your Infant's Screening for Critical Congenital Heart Defects With Pulse Oximetry
- Newborn Screening Tests
- Phototherapy for Newborn Jaundice
- Umbilical Cord Care
- Breastfeeding
- Circumcision
- Low Breast Milk Production
- Plugged Milk Ducts
Contact Newborn Care
Mass General Brigham for Children: 617-724-9040
Brigham and Women's Hospital: 617-732-7739