Bringing your baby home from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) can be an exciting time, but it may also be a stressful, overwhelming and highly emotional experience. You may continue to have questions or concerns about your child’s health, growth, and development. Tufts Medical Center provides you and your child with ongoing evaluation, care and support through our NICU Follow-Up Program.
Our program is designed for infants who may be at increased risk for long-term medical and/or developmental difficulties, including all premature infants born less than 28 weeks’ gestation or weighing less than 3 pounds at birth, as well as all infants with known medical or developmental problems. The NICU Follow-Up Program also provides ongoing long-term evaluation of infants enrolled in neonatal clinical trials.
We will evaluate your child’s growth, development, and overall health every six months, up to age three, and provide you with support and recommendations along the way in order to help your child reach his or her potential. At Tufts Medical Center, exceptional care doesn’t end when your baby leaves the NICU!
A multidisciplinary approach is critical when helping a child achieve his or her potential. In the NICU Follow-up Program, our highly skilled neonatologists, neonatal fellows, and neonatal nurses collaborate within a broader team of specialists including a developmental-behavioral pediatrician, physical therapist, ophthalmologist, occupational therapist, speech therapist and dietician. We all work together with you to be sure your child receives comprehensive care focusing on all aspects of his or her growth and development.
The NICU Follow-Up Program also helps coordinate subspecialty evaluations (to determine preschool readiness, for example) and provides you with immediate feedback and recommendations including local community services. Additionally, we provide education and resources to help you strengthen your bond with your child after you leave the NICU, so you don’t have to go it alone.
