At Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, a joyful milestone has been celebrated with the unveiling of an expanded and renovated 16-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Johnson Center for Pregnancy and Newborn Services. This newly designed space, the Axe and Blaise Wanstrath Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, marks the culmination of five years of careful planning and invaluable input from health care team members and families alike.
“Our newly designed NICU room is equipped with advanced technology, benefiting patients, families, and staff, ensuring exceptional care for the next 30 years in a nurturing environment,” says Jacky Lam, MSN, NE-BC, RNC-NIC, Director of Neonatal Services.
Redefining family-centered care
One of the standout features of the new NICU is the way its layout reflects a commitment to family-centered care. The unit boasts 14 new rooms, including 12 private rooms and two semiprivate rooms specifically designed for newborn twins. These thoughtfully designed spaces allow families to be at the bedside around the clock, providing intimacy and comfort that were not possible in the previous setup.
“Our new spaces bring NICU care to the next level, allowing for an environment where families can stay together and partake in crucial bonding practices like skin-to-skin kangaroo care,” said Lam. “And for the first time, we have twin rooms, ensuring that twins can remain side by side, enhancing their shared journey from the very beginning.”
The quiet environment is also more conducive to recovery and development.
“These new rooms are designed to offer a serene, nurturing atmosphere for newborns and their mothers, especially for our littlest newborns, who need a different kind of protective care than babies who are just a few weeks older,” said Lawrence Prince, MD, PhD, Chief of the Division of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine. “The updated unit has adapted our protocols to meet these fragile babies’ unique medical and developmental needs and support their families at every step of their health care journey.”
Packard Children’s has also enhanced the unit’s capabilities to provide care for critically ill newborns who need emergent surgery, dialysis for kidney failure, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), which circulates and oxygenates a baby’s blood if their heart or lungs are not working properly. “For newborns with critical illness, ECMO is often the therapy of last resort and is often lifesaving,” said Dr. Prince. “The new rooms allow babies to recover peacefully with their families beside them, minimizing the stress of shared spaces.”
Technology for advanced care
Embracing cutting-edge technology, the new NICU is equipped to meet the diverse needs of its most delicate patients. From real-time monitoring systems that allow parents to check on their babies via an app to equipment designed to record and play back soothing sounds from caregivers, every advanced tool serves a vital purpose. “These innovations not only aid in providing superior medical care but also play a pivotal role in parent education, preparing them for the eventual transition home,” said Lam.
A healing environment
The expanded NICU is not just about tech and design; it’s about the tangible difference it makes in the lives of families. Teresa Castro, a mother whose son Jesus has spent many months in the NICU, says that moving her son from a room that houses more than 10 babies into a private room is a welcome change for both of them. “The ambiance is very pretty. It’s colorful, bright, and very spacious,” said Castro. “Unlike before, where we were surrounded by other babies, parents, and nurses, we can now be alone, and he can sleep undisturbed by other babies, sounds from machines, or conversations from care teams.”
Castro emphasized the importance of being close to her son: “Before, I was unable to spend the night with him—there was no room,” she said. “Now, there is furniture for me to use to sleep, spend more time with him in comfort and be with him 24/7. Speaking as a mom, I am grateful to have this new NICU unit.”
Innovations in nutrition and beyond
A significant addition to the NICU is the Infant Nutrition Lab, where a mother’s milk is stored for her baby. This new facility ensures that human milk is prepared and fortified to meet each baby’s nutritional needs. Managed by Clinical Food Services and operated by infant-feeding technicians, the lab ensures that parents can provide expressed milk without interruption, maintaining precious bonding time with their newborns.
The recent expansion is just the beginning. Packard Children’s has demonstrated a lasting commitment to providing top-tier medical care and plans to continue renovating and expanding its facilities. By summer 2025, the hospital plans to open a new maternity unit, an antepartum unit, and a renovated Bass Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Diseases. Funding for the new NICU unit was supported by generous philanthropic contributions.
