Touring the NICU at Children’s Mercy Hospital

Being a pregnant Mom has me really interested in all things baby right now. When I was offered the opportunity to tour the Fetal Health Center including the NICU at Children’s Mercy Hospital as part of the Children’s Mercy Mom Ambassador program I was really excited.

The beginning of this pregnancy brought a little bit of uncertainty as I dealt with the possibility of having complications from the Zika Virus. A month before I got pregnant my family had traveled to a Zika infested area and so strict monitoring was put in place when I found out I was pregnant. This resulted in lots of scans and being able to see my baby several times. Luckily, everything turned out great in my situation but unfortunately, that isn’t always the case.

I’m so glad to know that should I need it, and for all the other Mom’s in Kansas City and surrounding areas that do need it, there is incredible help and resources at Children’s Mercy. With a highly trained staff specializing in the care of children, this is a great resource for our community.

I have previously toured the Labor and Delivery area of Children’s Mercy Hospital in the past. This area is meant solely for Mom’s of children that will need immediate and perhaps emergency care directly after birth. The Labor and Delivery room is attached to an operating room,  should the baby need surgery immediately, they just step through the glass doors and get to work. It’s an incredible set up and an awesome blessing for those families facing these difficult situations.  There is one labor and delivery room and three postpartum rooms.

Since the labor and delivery unit at Children’s Mercy is specifically for healthy Mom’s with sick babies they only deliver about 100 babies a year. In the 6 years they have been functioning they have delivered 703 babies. Since they aren’t always busy they are constantly doing simulations to keep their training and skills up to date and sharp.

Down the hall is the NICU which impressively has 70 beds. The day I toured the NICU each bed was being used. What a huge blessing to so many families. Children’s Mercy is the only level four NICU in the metro which means it has specialists that can provide the most complex surgical and medical care for newborns. There is an incredible staff taking care of these sick babies and their families with a comprehensive team of clinical experts, including more than 25 neonatologists with a wide variety of clinical and research interests, more than 60 neonatal nurse practitioners, and more than 250 registered nurses.

One thing that really impressed me was not only does Children’s Mercy take care of the sick child, but they care for the entire family, siblings and all. This couldn’t be more evident than in their newly designed Sporting KC playroom named the Cooper Connor playroom. I got to peek in the room for a minute and the murals and whole theme of the room is fantastic. The kids that were playing in it at the time were sure having a blast.

I love living so close to this amazing hospital. I find comfort knowing that should anything be wrong with my baby that we previously haven’t detected that she can be in great care swiftly. I’m glad that families around the area that are currently struggling with sick children have such comprehensive and advanced care to assist them.

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