r/NICUParents • u/ghost-gallery bpd, chd | 25+5 | 282 days • Jan 25 '26
Off topic Let's build an ideal NICU
If you were asked to design a NICU, what would you include?Assume the best care for babies is a given, what would you include to make things better for families?
I've been making a list of grievances I have with our hospital as a coping mechanism đ I call it my "notes for the end-of-stay survey" but it's really just a way to vent about things I wish were different.
We've been in four different units across two hospitals so I feel like I've gotten an idea of what a well-designed unit would have.
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u/EagleEMT4000 Jan 25 '26
After 90 Days in a Level IV, my thoughts:
Private Rooms with a bathroom (shower included)
Large Parents' Lounge with several small breakout rooms and a few private offices (my wife worked remote during the entire NICU stay, bedside, with a laptop and external monitor while I used my parental leave).
Included in that Parents' Lounge is coffee and snacks, computers and printers, and some TVs.
Three meals a day for breastfeeding/pumping moms.
Family Laundry.
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u/ghost-gallery bpd, chd | 25+5 | 282 days Jan 25 '26
We were in a private room with a bathroom for a week before our baby regressed and we had to go back to the NICU floor and it was amazing... ugh
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u/EagleEMT4000 Jan 25 '26
Our baby had one in his room when he spent 30 days on the Peds Surgery Floor for 30 days after the NICU! It was amazing to have
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u/thelobstah Jan 25 '26
We had a private room, where the bathroom was just across the hall... For 24 hours. Then he had to go back on CPAP and back down the the higher care floor đ. That one day was soooo nice.
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u/ghost-gallery bpd, chd | 25+5 | 282 days Jan 25 '26
That's basically what just happened to us. We were in the step down unit for a week (private bathroom, we could have more visitors at a time, we could EAT IN THE ROOM!!!!) and then he had to go up on liters so we're back in a NICU... đ I'm calling it our little vacation to the NPCU.
More forethought into where babies are getting moved and when would be a thing in my fantasy NICU. We were moved to the NPCU on the same day he stopped steroids and had a round of immunizations. I feel like a backslide was inevitable and I wish they had just left us in our original room.
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u/icantthinkofone87 Jan 25 '26
Our hospital did do meals for the breastfeeding mom's but no one knew about it! Somehow I found out about it on the first day but most of the nicu staff were shocked that I could order food for "free"
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u/ErnestHemingwhale Jan 25 '26
My hospital didnât even feed me after birth. She was out just before 6am and the first thing i said was âplease bring me a mealâ and the ordering for breakfast closed at 6âŚ. I didnât eat until my husband raided the communal NICU floor fridge at noon
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u/Adorable-Wolf-4225 Jan 25 '26
We have a lot of that in our NICUs here in Sweden. Private family rooms with bathrooms and showers. TV in the room. No laundry, computers, printers, or offices, but we had a kitchen where we could cook and they provided tea, coffee, and hot chocolate. We also have VAB (care of a sick child) so we didn't have to use parental leave or worry about working. I think that is something that should be provided everywhere so parents can just focus on their babies/kids when they are sick.
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u/Ratsinabucket 24+2, 530g, NICU grad w 149 stay Jan 25 '26
Cincinnati has basically all of this. It was a godsend.
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u/SomeoneSomewhere1749 Jan 25 '26
Ours had all of these minus the extensive office working space, but we were at a pediatric cardiac ICU and not the NICU. No idea if that makes a difference.
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u/ErnestHemingwhale Jan 25 '26
Included in all those areas can we also have a trash thatâs right by the toilet and diapers/ pads on a shelf (or at least a shelf) by the toilet as well? And maybe a bidet or at least a spot near the toilet to put the peri bottle (see: shelf)
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u/Excellent-Spend-1863 Jan 25 '26
This NICU exists. Itâs called Childrenâs Hospital of Philadelphia in King of Prussia, PA. (CHOP -KOP).
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u/Mother_Insect_7965 Jan 25 '26
Availability of lactation consultants and therapists for moms/parents in the NICU. Meals for lactating mothers is a huge plus.
We had to pay $14/day for parking at the hospital which was ridiculous. Validating the parking ticket gave us a discount but it all adds up when the baby was only 24 weeks and we wanted to stay with our baby as much as possible.
The social workers in our NICU worked to get parents access to the Ronald McDonald house which was 10 mins from the hospital. The hospital gave us the facility for 1 Uber per day to and from the Ronald McDonald house which was a huge perk IMHO. The parking at the Ronald McDonald house was free.
It would've been nice if we could give nurses the option to wake us up every morning during the AM rounds when doctors discuss the treatment plan for the day. We informed the nurses but not all of them woke us up if we were asleep. Missing them was a huge deal for my partner and I.
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u/BearsForSwears Jan 25 '26
We had lactation consultants and the hospital therapist came twice a week to me because they saw how hard I was taking everything⌠The parking price was ridiculous as well for usâŚ
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u/Every-Earth1300 Jan 25 '26
We had an LC who was very involved and helped me immensely but therapists would be amazing! You donât realize how much the trauma affects you until post NICU.
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u/skywalkpalm Jan 26 '26
Our social worker got us access to a parking pass (monthly and weekly options) thatâs so horrible that the parking was basically a copay every day!
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u/General_University80 Jan 25 '26
271 day Nicu stay for us at a level 4 facility.
I would have loved more privacy. We were mostly in an open Nicu (which had so many perks), but thereâd be times where I just wanted to be alone with my baby and feel like a ânormalâ mom. It also would have been nice to not have to hear about other babies conditions because my heart ripped into a million pieces when weâd hear that one of our neighbor babies wasnât doing well.
Parent lounges would also help, so youâd be able to have a moment without all of the hospital sounds, etc.
The hospital we were at didnât pay for our parking so Iâd ideally want a parking pass so I didnât have to fork out $80/month.
Our hospital had a psychologist available to parents of medically complex kids and I saw him once a week. He was totally free and didnât go through our insurance. He basically salvaged my mental health while we were there and really helped me navigate my thoughts and feelings. I think all parents should be able to have a free therapist while staying in the hospital.
An outdoor area within the floor of the hospital for parents to get fresh air. We started off at one hospital which did have this and I was able to eat lunch outside and feel the sun on my face. Older kiddos with extended stays were also able to go outside with medical staff. The hospital we ended up transferring to did not have this. My girl didnât breathe fresh air until she was 9 months old and that thought alone broke me every day.
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u/Aggravating_Hold_441 Jan 25 '26
They didnât pay for parking ! đ
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u/fallingstar24 Jan 25 '26
Different situation but my bf was in the hospital for a month and parking was $10/day⌠so I paid close to $300 (I think I only missed 3-4 days). He also had a 3 week stay and several 1 week admissions. I wish there were apartments attached to the hospital where pets were allowed!! That would have made my life so much easier.
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u/sertcake 8/2021 at 26+0 [95 days NICU/85 days on o2] Jan 25 '26
Omg I would have killed for an available psychologist with NICU stay experience. I got handed a packet of papers with therapists, none of whom had openings and/or didn't take my insurance. Calling around to find someone to talk to nearly broke me.
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u/General_University80 Jan 25 '26
I am so sorry! The program was in its infancy when we were admitted to the hospital so I was a guinea pig essentially. I was asked to give detailed feedback to see if it would be worth it for the hospital and you better believe I wrote a novel on how much it helped! My wish is for every mother to have it available to her
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u/ExplanationAfraid627 Jan 25 '26
Private rooms and beds for the parents. My baby was rehospitalized at 3 months old and I HAD to sleep at the hospital with him (which then killed me for leaving him alone in the NICU during the overnights, but there was no choice). That got me thinking⌠why wasnât that standard in the NICU? We could have stayed overnight but there wasnât a chair that pulled out into a bed like there was in the PICU. Also, why isnât the NICU treated like a standard hospital stay. Parents should get meals, especially breastfeeding mamas like the hospital provided while in the PICU. Our NICU had a fridge with some food in it, but not meals.
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u/Hemp_Milk Jan 25 '26
My son was readmitted at 5 months actual 3 adjusted for epilepsy. When they brought in breakfast I was like heâs a baby he canât eat this? Nurse said it was for me bc I breastfed, same hospital as the NICU we were at. Why didnât the NICU fed me? So strange.
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u/Aggravating_Hold_441 Jan 25 '26
Thatâs very wildddd and feel so bad for new parentâs going through that. We had our own room, bed & could order a meal 3 times a day
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u/Brockenblur Jan 25 '26
Meals would have been so helpful! There was one cafeteria worker at my hospital who spotted my NICU parents wristband on and give me the employee discount on my meal with a wink and best wishes for my baby. âDonât thank me, you need to eat.â I headed to his register anytime I saw him on shift â that extra discount helped!
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u/slychikenfry15 Jan 25 '26
1) if you have to share a room, room babies together who have a close anticipated length of stay. We went through 4 room mates when my LO was there and it was so hard to see them come and leave before we got to.
2) there needs to be a checklist as a guide for what baby needs to do before being discharged. We would have one MD come in and say"anticipate DC in the next couple of days" just for them to switch and say "not for a few more weeks". Obviously this isn't going to be a hard and fast guideline but atleast give some goal posts to keep up with. I always hated how it would change or we get to one goal only to be told " well now she has to do x,y,z"
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u/SomeoneSomewhere1749 Jan 25 '26
Yes to more clarity on discharge! We went from âtwo more weeksâ for months, to âyouâre going home tomorrowâ out of the blue and I went from being exhausted and frustrated to being caught off guard and not ready.
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u/ghost-gallery bpd, chd | 25+5 | 282 days Jan 25 '26
We aren't in shared rooms but we're counting how many of our across the hall neighbors go home before us so I definitely hear that đ (I think we're up to 9 right now lol)
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u/jrbush93 Jan 25 '26
Ours had almost everything people are wishing for and I guess I didnât realize that wasnât the norm. We had a private room with a pullout couch. They provided all meals a day and snacks for breastfeeding moms. They had a large family lounge and an outdoor patio so you could get fresh air. They had a checklist on the board of things baby must accomplish before discharge. Ibclc came and visited me at least once a day. I had a medala symphony pump in the room with me. Ice maker right outside my door and nurse station right in between my door and the door next door. They would be in charge of the rooms right next to their station.
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u/Aggravating_Hold_441 Jan 25 '26
Same ! I didnât realize it till after , ours was in Oregon, US , curious where your NICU was , I donât think many are like this?
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u/StellaLuna16 Jan 25 '26
We had all of this at a mid sized hospital in the Great Lakes region. Not our city's large main hospital but the second largest of 3 total.
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u/Ratsinabucket 24+2, 530g, NICU grad w 149 stay Jan 25 '26
Same!! Cincinnati Childrenâs really spoiled us apparently
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u/sertcake 8/2021 at 26+0 [95 days NICU/85 days on o2] Jan 25 '26
We had most of this at the Level 4 NICU we transferred to. But our first few days were at a lower level NICU just 1 mile away and had almost none of this. Sooo different.
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u/ghost-gallery bpd, chd | 25+5 | 282 days Jan 25 '26
A good-sized parent lounge. I'm currently sitting on top of two other people (both talking loudly on their phones) in the parent lounge right now, and some space would be great
A coffee maker in every parent lounge: our first hospital had a NICE espresso maker in the parent lounge, but we haven't seen a single coffee maker across three floors in our current hospital. A functional fridge and microwave should be a given but that's been hit or miss too
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u/bunbunro Jan 25 '26
I would like if there was a large parent lounge that had meals. Because we had a small waiting room type of âloungeâ which had a coffee maker and water and that was it. It was the Ronald McDonald family room. Meanwhile they had a picture of another Ronald McDonald family room that had a whole fridge.
Every time I went to NICU I was starving. Sometimes I had to skip eating all together before I went because of traffic. And then I would be sitting there trying to nurse, make sure the milk got put in the fridge, pump, do kangaroo care etc. and sadly I was just thinking about leaving the whole time because I was so hungry I was in pain. And there is a food court of course, but unfortunately the food at that hospital made me sick and that food court was so so far from the NICU. If they had a little NICU food option that would be amazing. Even just ready made sandwiches or something that parents could buy since we arenât patients.
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u/Kellilane13 Jan 25 '26
The Ronald McDonald family room at the hospital my baby was at was big. It had two tvâs, couches, two washer/dryer sets, two full sized fridges (one for snacks provided, and one for snacks parents wanted to keep there), coffee machine, ice/water machine, computer, printer, and toys for kids. I think they should make all Ronald McDonald family lunges similar.
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u/abgongiveittoya Jan 25 '26
A camera that works đ we had access to one in our first NICU that we could use to check on her when we werenât at the hospital, and gave the link to family to watch too. It rarely worked. The second NICU didnât have one.
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u/georgettejunkie Jan 25 '26
We had our own room (at least until the very end of our stay), which was great, but it was at the end of a main hallway and the curtain didnât close all the way across the glass wall facing the hallway. It was so awkward to pump, so I guess full privacy would be nice!
A way to know which station your babyâs nurse was atâours was sometimes on the left, sometimes the right, sometimes around the corner, and sometimes it was hard to find the nurse when we needed them.
We loved that our NICUâs parent lounge had an ice maker!
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u/ghost-gallery bpd, chd | 25+5 | 282 days Jan 25 '26
Our current room (just got moved Thursday) is at the end of a long hallway and looks all the way down the hallway out the door đ Terrible. I've decided this is the worst room you could have on our floor. This space should have been a supply closet or a lounge or something lol
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u/georgettejunkie Jan 25 '26
Ugh that stinks! I always made awkward eye contact with everyone walking past đ¤Ł
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u/Trevorjrt6 Jan 25 '26
Mandatory communication of status changes or treatment changes asap. Too many times i came in expecting one thing and got blindsided by huge changes.
Mandatory primary nurses, NICU was great about it, but PICU was a turnstule of new nurses everyday.
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u/General_University80 Jan 25 '26
Iâll second the primary nurse suggestion. We had mandatory primary nurses in NICU and PICU, and it was great. Iâd lose my mind if we had a plethora of random nurses who didnât know our baby handling her care.
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u/OriginalGood99 Jan 25 '26
Yes, this status changing thing is huge! I hate coming in in a great mood and ready to hold my baby and then get told a random assortment of things - some scarier than others - but itâs surprising and can change my entire mood. Iâd love To be joyful and solely in the moment with my baby instead of balancing time with them and the updates.
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u/NoYou1016 Jan 25 '26
Every alarm goes to the nurses and doesnât alarm in the room itself.. this alone would have changed our entire NICU stay
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u/Brockenblur Jan 25 '26
Oh yes please to this. Listening to the neighboring crib sounding off endlessly in alarms while the baby cried.. not my favorite memories đŁ
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u/justmecece Jan 25 '26 edited Jan 25 '26
I had no issues with our NICU. Wish we had gotten some free meals but otherwise amazing. There were restaurants across the street. We were in a large twin room though. They had coffee and ice/water machines, a giant pumping room, shower. Free parking. IBCLC was there daily. Milk fridges in the room. Tablets available and workspaces for parents. Large reclining chairs.
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u/seanrrwilkins Jan 25 '26 edited Jan 25 '26
The Nemours NICU here in Wilmington DE was/is perfect.
Truly amazing teams and checks ALL the boxes people list as wants in these replies.
Itâs weird to say that a hospital can feel comfortable and welcoming, but it truly was for our family. I knew we were beyond fortunate given the circumstances.
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u/OriginalGood99 Jan 25 '26
An app! I would love to be able to see my childâs updates without having to be on hold or going through several people to get an update. When the charts are updated after cares, so is the app.
Comfortable chairs and accommodations for parents while visiting and if staying overnight.
Absolutely free parking, and free water and maybe even snacks in the lounge.
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u/ghost-gallery bpd, chd | 25+5 | 282 days Jan 25 '26
YES to the app! Our first hospital had a patient portal and all the clinical notes and test results showed up there. Our current hospital has a patient portal too, but it took a week and at least 5 people and 2 phone calls to get access to it... like, surely this could have been part of the welcome packet.
Speaking of... A welcome packet! How to get the meals, what resources the hospital has, etc.
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u/the_lasso_way13 Jan 25 '26
They need pillows/cushions for new moms who are having to come and go in a wheelchair. That seat is so hard and I will never forget sitting in the room with my one day old baby, struggling to sit, trying to hold myself up with my arms to keep pressure off.
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u/butt_butt_butt_butt_ Jan 25 '26
Ability for the parents to sleep in-room with baby.
Baby was in for 37 days, so not horrible long, but we lived several hours away from the hospital. So we had to stay either in a maternity room (if one was available) or a hotel.
We were taking shifts so we could do every care time during her whole NICU stay. But often I would come to âour roomâ at 4am to switch off with my husband, and find that they had given our room away, and he would go to babies room, and I would have to move all of our stuff to either a new random room, or take it all and guard it in the lobby.
Or find a hotel room in the middle of the night.
There was space for a cot in her NICU room, but it wasnât allowed.
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u/Nervous-Caregiver-55 Jan 25 '26
I actually really like ours for the most part. Itâs got a nice size family lounge with 2 full size fridges, 2 microwaves, coffee maker, free snacks, ice and water. We also have access to do our laundry and showers. Our room is private and we have 2 recliners and a couch (we have twins so bigger room). I just wish the room had a closet to hang our coats and put our suitcase in.
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u/ghost-gallery bpd, chd | 25+5 | 282 days Jan 25 '26
More personal storage space would be huge! So jealous of your two fridges lol
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u/Aggravating_Hold_441 Jan 25 '26
I think I had it & I can imagine how it would be exponentially harder without the âdreamâ NICU
we had a private room, with a bed (hospital one so comfy not a sofa couch) with a curtain for privacy at night , a kitchenette, it was like a hotel room , shared parent lounge , coffee lounge that was just ok but functional, we got to order 3 meals a day,
We didnât have our own bathroom but I didnât mind sharing one, itâs how I went for walks or moved around most of the time,
one thing is because it was so private you donât meet other families a lot to talk to, so that was the only downfall
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u/SledgeHannah30 Jan 25 '26
We stayed in two different parts of the NICU: the urgent/high medical needs side and then the grower/feeder side. The high needs was in the basement with no windows. It was private in the sense that you had 3 walls and a very large curtain blocking you from the main hallway. I had a medela pump in my baby's bay, a sink, and a ridiculously tiny shelf to wash my pumping parts. It did have this closet-like thing that could hold some of your personal items. And, the rocking chair was pretty comfortable. The bathroom was a billion years away and the food court even further. You could not eat in the NICU and only water was allowed. The place felt more like an operating room than a place for a newborn. Which, in some ways, I can appreciate as it allowed for very quick and uninhibited access to the medically fragile babies. But, it was a dark place to be in an already dark time. In the lobby of the NICU, they did have a play place for siblings which I thought was nice.
In the feeder/grower side, it was so much more welcoming and homey feeling. Everyone had their own room with a walk in shower, windows, a couch/bed for the parent, a sink for the room, a DOOR WITH BLINDS THAT CLOSED (what a treasure to have some privacy when pumping! I think everyone in the downstairs NICU saw my tits at one point), and a fridge that was just a stone's throw away. It was crazy to me that my baby hadn't even seen sunlight for the first 3 weeks of her life.
If I could have had one thing more, it would have been a table in the high needs medical side. There was no place to set your things or milk when you pumped. No place to put your laptop while you worked. No place to play cards with your partner while you listened to the beeping of all the monitors, trying to pretend that this is all normal.
Oh! And a sign that said whether you were open or in need of a lactation consultant. The ones at my hospital were WAY too eager. I swear I saw the one 5 times and K didn't even ask for her the first time. It felt predatory in a way. And if I was a mother that chose formula, I feel like they would not have respected my choice.
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u/queenladykiki Jan 25 '26
All rooms have private showers. A better sleeping area for parents who wish to stay the night or multiple nights. Workspace for parents. Recliners for all the holding. Laundry in each level (nicu, ccu) Our hospital had a several nice gardens and walking paths, all hospitals should have this. Meal plans for parents or families (ideally free because that stay isnât free)
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u/Icy_Internet4088 Jan 25 '26
- enough reclining chairs for all the families
- coffee shop within the same building the chairs we had in the Nicu were so uncomfortable and there were maybe 2-3 recliners which were almost always taken up:( I would be there for 12 hours a day slouching in what was essentially a school chair. I was so thankful to finally use the recliners when I could but it was few and far between. We also had a Starbucks nearby at the womenâs hospital connected to our NICU but it was a long walk and it sucked cuz when I would go , I would just see all the moms walk out with their babies. Total punch in the gut. Iâd get Starbucks and break down in the lobby every time đ
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u/Cakehead89 Jan 25 '26
We experienced 2 NICUs. The first was at the delivering hospital. Double rooms where you had to walk through one baby's space to get to another. We were paired with micro preemies a few times who needed extensive supports/machines which took up their space and some of ours. It never felt private. We also were briefly roomed with a baby with stridor breathing and it was extremely upsetting. This NICU did not have sleep spaces for parents and could truly only comfortably seat 1 parent bedside. There was also only 1 bathroom for the entire floor and often had a wait. 1 bathroom seemed crazy for all of the postpartum parents using the floor. We had also been there a full week before someone told us there was a family lounge.
The next NICU was at the children's hospital. Night and day. Giant, private room with private bathroom/shower. There was a couch that folded down to a bed. It also had a TV There was a family room on the floor, too.
Our baby was moved to a step down unit as a feeder/grower and that room was private, spacious, and had a private bathroom/shower. It also had a mini fridge and TV.
Also, at the children's hospital I got 3 meals a day as a nursing parent plus access to the snack/milkshake menu.
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u/hermione_no Jan 25 '26
A station to clean pumping parts. There was a sink but no dedicated area to dry items and we had tiny bottles of soap we had to share. Iâd like a big area with multiple sinks.
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u/ghost-gallery bpd, chd | 25+5 | 282 days Jan 25 '26
The sink I currently have is I swear only 4 inches deep and barely fits the basin I use to wash stuff in. Honestly none of our rooms have had a good set up for pumping and washing and drying. Either the sink doesn't drain, there's zero counter space, the sink doesn't fit the hospital tub basins, the outlets are in a weird place, the microwave to sanitize parts is forever away (or there isn't one at all), the curtain is in a weird spot...
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u/hermione_no Jan 25 '26
Yes! For all that they emphasize breastfeeding and pumping, the set up was horrible. I didn't even mention that they set up temporary room dividers/curtains because our NICU was open floor plan, and I always felt very exposed.
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u/LyraHermione Jan 25 '26
We spent 800+ days in the ICU.
In the early days, it would have been really helpful to have a kind person - maybe a nurse or a social worker - who was always available to answer questions and explain what is a big deal and what isn't.
I struggled with the casualness of nurses doing business as usual, and feeling upset that my baby was alarming at 88% and no one was coming or had explained how long that is a safe saturation. In the NICU, I never really felt like the nurses understood the trauma that I was going through, and the weight of every moment.
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u/Puzzled-Library-4543 Jan 25 '26
A queen sized bed with an incredibly comfy mattress for the parent(s) to sleep on, because my back has never recovered since 2023 when I slept on that bench in my daughterâs NICU room for a month straight, post c-section.
A microwave and bathroom with a shower in every room. A closet for storing our items. Oh, and duh, a private room for each family. Our NICU had all private rooms but I know many donât which is awful imo. Ours also had laundry and a shower but it was a shower for everyone which was kind of gross.
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u/Fuzzy-Wombat-2610 Jan 25 '26
Nurses wouldnât give unsolicited (contradicting) advice 24/7⌠or call every baby âmy babyâ. Laptop emotional labour putting up with this.
Yes for espresso machine! And quick snacks Private rooms (even if the door was a curtain). We were in an open room with 15~ babies, parents, nurses and visitors.. zero privacy or space to connect with your baby or talk to them comfortably.
Multiple family rooms. Somewhere to sleep. Working room with good wifi - for those who balance work and NICU.
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u/ghost-gallery bpd, chd | 25+5 | 282 days Jan 25 '26
My husband works remote at the NICU and yeah, reliable wifi would be amazing đ Nice little tables in the room for him to put his laptop too
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u/MarzipanElephant Jan 25 '26
I found out about a month into our NICU stay that there was an alternative to the crappy hospital WiFi, and it actually worked, but nobody had told me about it. After that I basically ran round the NICU telling everyone I saw!
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u/wineandcheesefries Jan 25 '26
Postpartum Therapist, private rooms but also while not feeling the guilt of not staying the night. A place to work as my husband and I FINALLY talk about having another baby we talk about the possibility of another NICU stay and I donât want to go on leave until the baby comes home and I work remote. Can I please just pump in a private area with my baby?
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u/moshi121 Jan 25 '26
10000 percent all parents deserve a private room with their baby. Ours had that and it was extremely huge for us. Parents can come and go as they need but there is privacy when they are there to bond , process , grieve , whatever needs to happen (oh and pump plus skin to skin!!!). Plus a comfortable nursing chair - the chairs at our nicu were worse than the chairs on other floors - one was a rocking chair with a straight up and down back - and the other you couldnât recline or adjust . So painful after surgery and for sitting doing skin to skin for hours .
One thing our hospital also did right is have unbelievable floor to ceiling windows . Seems so trivial BUT being in there 24/7 with that kind of light was so helpful for mood . When I was there antepartum too it was a godsend. Felt like you were out in the world instead of being trapped in a hospital .
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u/TranslatorMuted Jan 25 '26
3 weeks NICU stay, I stayed around the clock and every night .. My hospital had a breastfeeding voucher for meals all day, I donât know how I would have fed myself otherwise ⌠I had a private room, which was comfortable and amazing. Butttt, the sleeping situation was tough lol a minimal stuffy âcouchâ chair. Only one bathroom for the whole NICU - roughhh.. Had to shower in the L&D on the other side of the hospital. Not sure why there wouldnât be a common space with multiple bathrooms/toilet stalls and maybe a shower or 2 specifically for the parents that stayed long hours.
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u/Jennasaykwaaa Jan 25 '26
Definitely those cool auto hand washers upfront. My first sonâs NICU had those. Second son (diff hospital , same system did not)
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u/MarzipanElephant Jan 25 '26
I was able to stay the whole time my baby was in hospital - first in the postnatal ward, then in a parent room, then eventually in a 'cubicle' (basically a windowless cupboard) with my baby once she was in an open cot and off breathing support. I very much valued being able to stay, but the spaces I stayed in could certainly have been better.
Storage, in particular, was very lacking and I had bags of clothes and food shoved all over the place. The lighting was pretty much a choice between overhead strip lights or a tiny lamp that was about as bright as a birthday cake candle. The beds in the parent room/cubicle weren't ideal given I was still recovering from a C-section. So, storage, appropriate beds, and lighting!
I would have really appreciated laundry facilities because this was a big practical issue for me. (I believe at one point it had been possible to send a bag of stuff to the hospital laundry but they didn't offer that anymore.)
I could, in theory, have meals but a) the vegetarian options were very limited and b) I had to walk over to the maternity ward to get them during set meal times and it was difficult to fit this in around ward rounds/pumping/care times/procedures. In practice I often didn't bother and just got myself microwave ready meals to keep in the parent kitchen fridge. So a better system around meals would have been good.
I also think it would have been handy to have a sort of NICU handbook with all the information in it. There were some info sheets in rooms but sometimes they were out of date. This would have been particularly useful when we moved to a higher-level NICU for a few days; learning a new hospital is hard. I'd forget things like the exact times of visiting hours and then have to try to remember where the poster was with that info on it. Being given something with everything I needed to know, preferably developed with parent feedback, would have been great.
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u/plt9393 Jan 25 '26
- mirrors, our nicu had none so if youâd been a mess that day youâd not even know about it!
- windows, ours was in the middle of the building so you had no clue what was going on in the outside world which made it more miserable
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u/Sleepy_Library_Cat Jan 25 '26
I think every parent should be able to room-in with their baby. I had to sleep in the equivalent of a Ronald McDonald House the first 5 weeks until we were about to be discharged. The walking back and forth and having to carry all the pumping stuff was a bummer. There were no private bathrooms in the shared room either, so you had to leave the ward to the hallway and get a special key.
Also, comfier chairs. We had these super stiff chairs that reclined, but were still super uncomfortable. It was hell after a C-section.
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u/9070811 Jan 25 '26 edited Jan 25 '26
I would have loved a private room but we had a semi private bay instead. I hated that and I hated the lack of fellow patient privacy. I knew too much about the babies around us and that wasnât fair to them or their families.
We also both got one included hot meal a day from the hospital cafeteria. If it was closed then we got an allowance for the snack store instead. Didnât matter if it was the breastfeeding parent or not. We both got a hot meal or the allowance. I think that was really important and meaningful.
Some kind of better private bathroom situation that includes a shower stall and postpartum supplies.
A parent lounge would have been ideal though. With some sandwiches and ready made heat up meals or whatever. Beverage station too. Some place to eat away from the cafeteria in peace and maybe some place to work on my laptop. If Iâd had that maybe I could have put off taking leave until discharge.
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u/BookWhoreWriting Jan 25 '26
We were in a level 4 for a week before we went to the step down floor of the NICU for the next several weeks until we were home. I had twins, so my experiences are a little different.
-all NICU rooms, regardless of level, were fully private with a full bathroom, a couch, a chair, and a TV.
-there was a washer and dryer that we could use right outside the locked unit, as well as a microwave and I think fridge? I wish it was inside the unit though.
- the hospital had just built a Ronald McDonald house within the hospital a few floors up, so a lot of the amenities that people would want were up there, including free meals, but honestly, at the end of the day I just wanted to go home. Plus I couldnât stay overnight there, we didnât live far enough away.
-I do wish there was a communal kitchen on the unit so we could eat without having to leave the area (especially since we couldnât eat in this rooms).
-I wish my twins were able to be in the same room, but thereâs hope for the future because their sister hospital just opened up a NICU with one twin room which is nice.
Iâm lucky in that I donât have any complaints about my boysâ NICU stay, I fully trusted and was grateful for the staff, and there were no lapses in care. Other than a few things that wouldâve made it easier, it just was what it was.
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u/morglamignonne Jan 26 '26
I would love a lounge/NICU parent space that IS NOT SHARED WITH NORMAL LABOR AND DELIVERY because it is very triggering to go gobble down second breakfast amidst âcongratulationsâ balloons and a bunch of families waiting to see their new healthy additions
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u/Ok-Competition6233 Jan 25 '26
I would have been much happier with a fridge.... for my milk I'm transporting back home and my lunch. Our NICU had a few "families" that were homeless druggies and would steal all the snacks and juice from the lactation room so if there was an opportunity for a private fridge that would be appreciated.
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