The first Neonatal Intensive Care Unit was established in 1965 at the Yale-New Haven Hospital. Neonatology is the speciality within pediatric medicine that provides for sick and premature infants or neonates. This is a very young area of medicine that was established in the 1960’s. The speciality of Neonatal wasn’t developed until the 1970’s(McGarth). In the 1970’s, there was finally jobs of the speciality of neonatal medicine. Even though it was not established till the 1970’s, doctors were learning about the speciality of infants since the early 1900’s. The treatment since 1970 has greatly improved due to a greater knowledge and understanding of infants. Their are more than 40 thousand premature and underweight …show more content…
The NICU’s incubators are unlike the regular nursery bassinets. The incubators help regulate temperature throughout the incubator. An infant incubator is where a neonate is kept. The incubator can control all aspects of the environment in which the baby is living in. Because it is like a clear box you can see into the incubator. Depending on the type of incubator it includes a heater, a fan, a container to add water for humidity, and a control valve through which oxygen may be added (McGarth). In the Incubator a nasogastric tube delivers breast milk to the baby directly to the stomach. The tube goes through the nostrils to the stomach. If the baby has breathing difficulties than an oxygen hood will be placed over the baby's head that will supplies oxygen. An IV will provide fluids for hydration, and if the baby has medication it will also go through this tube. This needle of the IV will usually be in the arm or the hand of the infant (Greenberg). Monitors that are taped to the baby's skin will monitor the vital signs of the baby. The vitals are things like heart rate, temperature, respiration rate, and blood pressure.Incubators are still being modified and redesigned due to the fact that they have not yet developed the perfect incubator. The main problem with the incubators is the temperature control is not staying at where it needs to be in order to keep the baby at the right temperature. Although, it is not a perfect invention it has made a huge difference in