Level III Neonatal Care
A neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is a unit that specializes in the care of ill or premature newborn infants.
Neonatal care in India is generally graded according to the globally accepted standards given below:
• Level I : Includes referral of sick newborns from Primary Health Centres (PHC) to higher care at neonatal stabilization units (NSUs).
• Level II : Special care newborn units (SCNU) for the stabilization of the sick babies and low birth weight (LBW) cases generally found at the District hospital levels.
• Level III : These include the NICUs capable of providing care for very ill or extremely small babies or newborns through the 24 x7 availability of services from specialized neonatologists, neonatal surgeons, respiratory therapists and specially trained nurses to handle the tiniest patients.