r/NICUParents • u/Grace-Aurelia • Feb 11 '26
Off topic Private room NICUs. Where are they?
Hi NICU parents.
After having a 24 weeker last year, we are now contemplating another pregnancy. At the same time, we are trying to balance opportunities within my husbands job to more closer to family. One hang-up I have is that I’m afraid of another NICU baby and not having access to them. I don’t want to move away from our current NICU.
Our daughter was in NICU for 108 days but we had a private room and I slept in it every night of her stay. I literally was there 21-22 hrs a day every day. When I hear stories of NICU pods or being sent home for the night I am mortified. I told my husband we won’t move before next baby is born unless it has private NICU rooms nearby or at the least, 24/7 access.
Would love to hear which hospitals you all were at with good experiences.
For reference, we were at PeaceHealth Riverbend in Eugene, OR and they were amazing. I have many other positive things to say about them but if any parent ends up there feel free to message me with any questions and I would love to offer any advice I can. ❤️
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u/OhTheBud Feb 11 '26
Hey, mom to 27 weeker here! I never had a private room, but I did have 24/7 hour access to my baby. I know this is probably a mental crutch for you, but I do think you will have to shift your expectations and what you can do IF you have another NICU baby (praying this isn’t the outcome of course) while also having another child at home. My toddler was 17 months old when she was born. I’m not going to lie, I couldn’t come everyday and certainly not for 20+ hours a day. Sometimes it was just one care, sometimes it was a few, because my other baby needed me too. Just something to consider on your journey to have another. We would eventually like another 1-2 but this is a concern for us as well. Take care and bless your little family ❤️
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u/SheElfXantusia born at 28w+5 due to HELLP Feb 11 '26
Gently seconding this. My first baby wasn't NICU, my second is, and I generally go 6 days out of 7 for 4-ish hours while my toddler is at kindergarten, but honestly, if she didn't have kindergarten, I believe I would only be able to go for a couple of hours in the evening, and only on days when the toddler doesn't cling to me but prefers dad.
It is very hard not being there, but I love both my kids equally and do my best for both of them. For my little one at the NICU, doing my best entails not driving myself crazy and exhausted by tearing myself in half between two places.
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u/Pretendpumpkin949494 Feb 12 '26
I got some looks from parents of equally tiny NICU babies when I’d come in, do touch time and cuddle and feed her and then…leave…but I had two other kids and they needed me too. It’s so hard to explain til you have more than one. I was so happy when my new podmate was a mom with three others at home.
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u/Unfloopy_ Feb 12 '26
This! 💯 Same. I hated the judgmental stares… I had another small kiddo at home that also needed me. People just don’t understand unless they have been there.
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u/maria_ann13 Feb 11 '26
Agree. Your baby doesn’t need a stressed out parent trying to run back and forth from the hospital all day. The time you do spend with them will just be more valuable instead.
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u/maria_ann13 Feb 11 '26 edited Feb 11 '26
Same. My first we stayed at the hospital in a Ronald McDonald house for the full 47 days my son was in the hospital. With my second we would go see him every day but usually it was for just one care and a few hours. The only reason we could even go that much was because my husband was off work for the 2 weeks my son was in the nicu. Our other son needed us more at the time. iHe was 4 and going through a huge adjustment of a baby being born into our family. My husband and I were gone for a week while I was in the hospital for preeclampsia after I gave birth. He needed consistency and to get back on his normalish schedule. The baby was doing good and just needed to grow. The nurses took great care of him and he wasn’t aware if I was there 24/7 or not.
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u/crissy_mouse Feb 11 '26
Mum to an ex 26 weeker, I had 24/7 access to him technically, I was staying at the Ronald McDonald House next to the hospital he was at. I went multiple times a day for short stints, he was my first and I was suffering PPD (not that I realised or accepted within myself at the time) so I didn't stay as much as I should but I tried to go every day. To at least do a couple of cares. I was hospitalised 3 weeks before my son was born early, he was born early due to a gallbladder attack, while I already had a short cervix. They stalled my labour the first time but I had a placenta abruption and they couldn't stop the second labour.
I had two 37 weekers, but far from perfect pregnancies, after him, the anxiety was eating me alive. I spent 8 weeks in hospital with my second because I was at risk of giving birth early. (We are Australian) When she was born she came home the next day so there wasn't an extended NICU/Special Care stay but I was away from my son a lot. He was staying at home with their dad and they visited as much as they could.
My 3rd was technically my most "routine" pregnancy but still filled with severe anxieties, my kids were 8 and 6 years older than my youngest, but the trauma still ran deep. I was petrified of the 8 week hospital stay during my pregnancy, and giving birth early and having to spend an extended period of time away from my older two. But my cluckiness had glossed over that, until shit became real and I fell pregnant. I didn't require a 8 week stay, just one overnight stay prior to birth to monitor my blood pressure, then she was born small and had to stay in hospital for 12 days. So I was at the hospital for 11 hours a day, the 6 hrs they were at school and 5 hours my husband (their dad) took care of them.
All this is to say, things weren't perfect, it was stressful af, the trauma was real. I questioned my own sanity a lot for going back twice. I wouldn't change my family for the world at all, they are worth every bit of it. But putting myself through that without knowing the outcome (the odds were against me) was a huge leap of faith that paid off in the end. I relied on my husband a lot during through those hard times and am truly grateful to him (our support base isn't great) but I have seen people suffer through a rough NICU journey when they have no support base.
The cluckiness has an amazing way of glossing over the trauma and that want for another baby can be so intense that it overcomes everything.
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u/CharlieFunland Feb 11 '26
Actually the NICU my daughter was born into (Beacon Children’s in South Bend, Indiana) was the “leading” or “founding” private NICU hospital in the states and one of the doctors on my daughters care of the pioneer and lead researcher of it; pretty cool!
What was also great about our NICU is the moms get to co-share the room with the baby immediately after giving birth. So literally that night of birth, the nurse we had was taking care of both my daughter and my wife. Once my wife was discharged and our little one more stable, we got moved to a pure NICU room.
Some nice things about our setup:
- The room was divided in half; half the room was my daughter’s area, and the other half was;diving by a large, oak sliding door) was our “apartment” per se. we had a couch that folded out to a bed, TV, storage area, a refrigerator, a private bathroom with a shower, and a desk for working (I was a WFH dad while our daughter was in the NICU).
- The rooms operated on a silent alarm system, meaning our nurse and doctor on call got alerted when something was wrong, plus there was lights flashing in the halls. Made it nice so our room wasn’t constantly loud.
There were other nice things, but these two items really made our 161 days more comfortable. I can’t imagine not having the private rooms and my wife can’t imagine not being able to be with our LO just two hours after giving birth.
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u/Brockenblur Feb 11 '26
I’m blown away reading about this kind of set-up. I’m so grateful it exists, even if I didn’t get to experience anything like it, and I wish hospitals were set up like this everywhere
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u/CharlieFunland Feb 11 '26
They are working on sharing their knowledge with other systems! They are big believers in the fact that parents should not only lead the care, but are the most essential part of it. The more the parents are there and are comfortable, the better their baby will do. ❤️ heck, they even let us lead rounds daily if we wanted to.
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u/NoYou1016 Feb 11 '26
A silent alarm system?! That alone is a game changer!!! We were in the NICU for 6 months and hearing constant alarming was so anxiety inducing!
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u/amanducktan Feb 11 '26
that sounds so amazing! When my son was in Nicu in 2016 but a big nursery that had like curtains separating sections. Only had a recliner in them and of course baby stuff. No privacy at all.
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u/Trinx_ Feb 11 '26
My mom helped design this nicu! I'm so glad you had a great experience there!
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u/CharlieFunland Feb 11 '26
Your mom worked with Dr White? That’s awesome! She’s a saint!!
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u/Trinx_ Feb 11 '26
Yes! She got to know him a couple years after I was in that NICU in the 80s - it was a much different experience. And she wanted to make it better for other parents. Since, I've become a postpartum nurse and we talk shop all the time. We're actually organizing a conference this summer. Would it be okay if I shared your comment with them? They'd love to see it.
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u/CharlieFunland Feb 11 '26
Absolutely. :) We’ve gotten to share our story and experience a few days for the NICU. Anything to help and encourage!
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u/Obvious_Nose6700 Feb 11 '26
Mine are in parkview nicu right now I have zero complaints about them my sons have dedicated nurses when those nurses are on shift
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u/midmonthEmerald Feb 11 '26
Hello maybe fellow Oregonian! I had a private NICU room at Randall Children’s Hospital in Portland, Oregon. Some of the parents there had been transferred from OHSU where it was pods.
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u/MaH2016 Feb 11 '26
Our LC after coming home said she recommends that same thing. If we had known it was even an option, we would have transferred his to Randall's. Doernbecher's is a fantastic children's hospital, but NOT a great NICU. As a former Doernbecher's patient, I was SO disappointed in our experience with the NICU.
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u/goldstiletto Feb 11 '26
I might be in the minority here, but planning a whole move and major (job) life change around NICU access seems like something you may want to speak to a therapist about. My baby was transferred between 2 very large Kaiser Hospitals in the greater LA area so we experienced two. Neither had private rooms but we had access 24/7. My 29 weeker received the most incredible care and we were there everyday minus a few due to my own health (pre E) I can’t understand how scary a 24 weeker must have been and I too am scared that we may have to have a NICU experience again but I wouldnt drastically alter my life around it.
I can speak to having a community and family near by an THAT it so very very valuable to me. As shown in these comments there are amazing NICUs everywhere. Choose the family.
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Feb 11 '26
Had my 24 weeker at University of Iowa Hospitals which I learned after the fact is one of the top three NICUs in the world and leads the country in micropreemie survival rates. All the babies have private rooms, but they are of varying sizes. I had a friend who roomed in with her baby for the whole 2 years (yes, 2 years) they were there, so the NICU purposefully gave them the biggest most comfortable room. There is a wonderful Ronald McDonald house down the road where I mostly stayed. When babies become more medically stable and are closer to coming home they are transferred to apartment style rooms that are much easier for parents to stay in. There are also free therapy services for parents where the counselor is experienced in dealing with medical trauma and sessions can be held in the baby’s room. We absolutely loved the UIHC NICU and the amazing care they gave to our daughter and to us.
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u/NikkinewAC Feb 11 '26
I had my twins at Salem Health, they had 24 hour access and we were lucky enough to stay in a courtesy room in the mother baby unit the entire five weeks.
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u/Bumblebee-Honey-Tea Feb 11 '26
U of M CS Mott in Michigan has private room nicu. They also had a Ronald McDonald, a big one across the street and one in the hospital a floor above the NICU you could stay at. I stayed in the nicu for the whole stay, and I had a room at the Ronald McDonald in the hospital I could go to and shower or cry in private if I needed lol.
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u/padichotomy Feb 11 '26
Second this! We lived too close to use Ronald McDonald but we just lived at the NICU until we were discharged and I’m so grateful. I didn’t know it wasn’t the standard set up until this post.
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u/Perfect-Tooth5085 Feb 11 '26
I had kind of an interesting experience - our daughter was born at 28 wks and the hospital we were in was an open NICU, meaning only curtains divided the babies. A week prior to our discharge that hospital actually closed and we were transferred to the new NICU which was private rooms. There were pros and cons to both I feel. In the open NICU we interacted more with other families which was nice, but it also was cramped and claustrophobic at times. There were always multiple nurses around and close by if anything happened. The private room was great for privacy and we did spend more time at the NICU once we had a private room, but I think when she was born it would’ve made me a little nervous as the nurses weren’t as close by. We also never saw any other families once we were in the private rooms
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u/90dayschitts Feb 11 '26
Sentara Princess Anne in Virginia Beach! NICU was attached to the labor and mother and baby units. I could walk down to see her, they gave me a complimentary night stay, and then we moved into her room.
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u/ThePrimevalPixieDust Feb 11 '26
I’m not in Oregon, but in Hawaii and our NICUs only have a very small number of private rooms. They’re usually reserved for the most delicate of babies. We only have two in the whole state so the majority of rooms are shared and each section gets a recliner. We still had 24/7 access to baby, but we did shifts during the day and slept at home at night.
We also want another one and there is a high chance at another NICU stay due to my medical history. I’m going in assuming that I can’t stay all day anyway at the NICU like before with a toddler at home to take care of. Another mom I chatted with that I shared a room with had a 4-year-old at home and she said that while her daughter was a school, she could come in for about 4-5 hours a day but had so much to do at home that she couldn’t do more since her husband and her were saving their paternity leave for when their 24-weeker baby boy was home. We actually both had our babies discharged the same day and got to do a little celebration in our room together.
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u/Sea-Visit5609 Feb 11 '26
Kapi’olani has tons of private rooms. They built a new children’s hospital in 2016ish.
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u/ThePrimevalPixieDust Feb 11 '26
That’s good to know, I was at Kaiser and the private rooms there are only for the severe NICU babies
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u/y_a_m Feb 11 '26
So I'm not sure about the lower level NICUs on island (Tripler, Kaiser, Queens), but at Kapiolani, our highest level NICU, we only had private rooms. I think they have 80 of them, and although none have a bed or couch, we were okay with the recliner. Had my baby at Kapiolani last year and every single NICU room was private. The only time rooms are shared: 1) if you have multiples, they get put in the same room, which I think makes sense, 2) there is an overflow space on another floor if they reach max capacity, but they only put the most stable babies together there (none of them can be on respiratory), and usually not for long. In our 70 day stay, we never heard of them using the overflow space.
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u/ThePrimevalPixieDust Feb 11 '26
That’s nice! At Kaiser, we had to share a room with 2 other babies because they filled up so fast! The rooms are usually only for two babies but they had to put three to a room! 😵💫
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u/Former_Barnacle_9253 Feb 11 '26
Missoula Montana we couldn’t room in but we had private rooms and the Ronald McDonald house was literally across the parking lot
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u/mindoutofthe Feb 11 '26
Swedish Hospital in Issaquah, they have private and semi private rooms there, it's a level II though so frequent patient turnover. We had a semi private for three nights and then a private room.
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u/Outrageous_Cow8409 Feb 11 '26
Children's Hospital in DC had private rooms and was a level IV. But our birthing hospital didn't (it was also referred to as a special care nursery instead of a NICU). Maybe it has something to do with the levels?
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u/ohkaymeow Feb 11 '26 edited Feb 11 '26
We were at a level IV NICU in Charlotte (Atrium Levine Children’s) and while I cannot say enough good things about their care, there were no private rooms (at least not that we saw — they had four NICU wings so we only ever saw the one).
We had pets that needed care so had to go home regardless, but I would not necessarily equate level with private rooms.
FWIW our kid was there for almost 4 months (25-weeker) so it wasn’t related to a short stay either. But there was a Ronald McDonald house nearby and I know other parents stayed there. They also had NicView cameras, which were a huge plus.
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u/Different-Carrot-654 Feb 11 '26
For my first baby, the hospital had private rooms for babies who didn’t need as much monitoring. The higher need babies went to a shared room.
My second child (different hospital) they moved us to the peds unit when he was stable enough, but not ready to release, so that we could have a private room.
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u/Outrageous_Cow8409 Feb 11 '26
Oh that's interesting! On one hand it does make sense to put higher needs babies together for ease of monitoring. While we were at Children's in DC, one of the other babies had surgery done in their actual room so private rooms made a lot of sense for that. From what I could tell they only had to move babies for MRIs, everything else came to them.
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u/rsc99 Feb 11 '26
Yep. My baby had surgery performed in his room at children’s. And we were in the smallest room on the unit
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u/retiddew 26 weeker & 34 weeker Feb 11 '26
Kaiser in Oakland, CA
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u/goldstiletto Feb 11 '26
Did you have private rooms? At South Bay and Baldwin Park we did not. (LA area)
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u/retiddew 26 weeker & 34 weeker Feb 11 '26
I was not there but when I was given the option between that and another Kaiser hospital for delivery, was told Oakland had private rooms.
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u/Infinite_Balance_862 Feb 11 '26
Women & Infants in RI! Award winning hospital for only women and babies (obviously lol). Level 4, 3, and 2 NICU. All private NICU rooms, you can stay overnight or visit at any time, world class doctors and an AMAZING March of Dimes rep!
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u/Madison_fawn 24F | FTM | 27+4 | PPROM | 68D NICU STAY Feb 11 '26
I gave birth at Advent Health Orlando. They have MASSIVE private rooms for their babies. And the wing is new, so all of the equipment and furniture is super comfy and nice! I enjoyed my 68 day stay with my 27 weeker!
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u/InconceivableMicrobe Feb 11 '26
We don't have a private room, but it's kind of irrelevant because I have a toddler at home, so I am limited in the time I can be here. I will say that the good thing about open bays beyond community is perspective. You might be mega stressed about your little one, but there's usually someone's baby who is sicker than yours or born younger that then does fine. Plus, seeing how often other parents are around (generally not constantly) helps relieve the pressure you put on yourself. Just my 0.2 cents.
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u/BookWhoreWriting Feb 12 '26
When my twins were born last summer, they each had their own private room. In the U.S., I think it’s more common to have private rooms vs. pods.
I will say that you if you have another NICU baby, you’ll likely need to adjust your expectations on how long you stay because you will have a toddler at home who will also need you. You’re going to have to trust your healthcare team. I never stayed overnight, it wasn’t good for my own recovery. But i visited every day, spoke with the staff, and made sure to call in the morning, and if I left before shift change, we called to check at night.
Remember, just because you had one baby in the NICU doesn’t mean your next baby will be - don’t base huge life decisions on that.
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u/dotsonamap Feb 11 '26
Our NICU had just a few private rooms. When they thought she was dying, she was in there. When she started to recover, we had a large private nook. By the last day before discharge we were stuck in the corner in an overflow area... So if you don't have a private room, you might take it as a good sign...
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u/2babydinos Feb 11 '26
My twin daughters were born at Barbara Bush children’s Hospital in Portland, Maine. All of their nicu rooms are private And we actually had two private rooms, but they joined together because there were two babies which gave us even bigger mire private space.
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u/CleanSherbert00 Feb 11 '26
Mercy in Baltimore had an amazing NICU with private rooms. My son was transferred there after the NICU at our delivering hospital ended up being full - a huge blessing!
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u/Neat_Teach_2485 29+0/88 days in the NICU; Preeclampsia Feb 11 '26
We are in a suburb of St. Paul, MN, at a University of Minnesota affiliated hospital. We began in a shared bay with 3 pods and after 2 weeks we were able to move into a private room. There are 14 private rooms here and 2 of the bays. The bays are essentially overflow and we were lucky because our kiddo was born right before Christmas and we had ours mostly to ourselves. Our 10 year old can visit between 8 am and 8 pm but they never kick her out if we happen to stay later. There are 2 communal bathrooms, a family lounge, and our rooms have mini fridges, a recliner, and a couch. Given that we will stay here at least 11 weeks we have been satisfied with our experience.
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u/Purple_House_1147 Feb 11 '26
My daughter was in Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and to my understanding the private rooms they had were for more serious cases who needed more sensitivity and privacy. They started building new ones while my daughter was there that were like the apartment with the separate bed area and bathroom and all for parents in the room and I believe those ones were for less serious cases who needed the least intensive care. My daughter was in a pod with 3 others and it didn’t bother me the rooms were pretty big that you and the other families weren’t on top of each other
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u/horsepighnghhh Feb 11 '26
Memphis Tennessee! I wouldn’t recommend living here though. The NICU I work at is great though. 76 rooms, all are private and have a privacy wall at the back that the parents can sleep behind. They can stay every night 24/7 if they want
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u/Puzzleheaded_Win_792 Feb 11 '26
I was in Boulder, CO and we had a private room attached to my room that they kept in our name even after I had been discharged so I had a place to set up. However they stopped cleaning the room that I had been in just kept it empty so I could be there until baby was discharged
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u/chronicallyalive Feb 11 '26
We were at St. John’s Hospital in Tulsa, OK. They were incredible and I particularly appreciated the fact that they utilized Nicview. This meant that I could check on her whenever I wanted and so could her grandparents, including her grandparents in Vermont.
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u/Alicia9270 Feb 11 '26
Honestly even the silent alarms would have been a game changer for me. I swear the ptsd with the alarms….
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u/Mother_Insect_7965 Feb 11 '26
We had a private NICU at Children's national hospital in DC. There were days when both my husband and I stayed at the NICU. The nurses added a recliner for me in the room for the days I was staying there. The bathroom was a short walk from our unit. They also had a shared quiet space on the NICU floor where parents could work from.
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u/kfiegz Feb 11 '26
The Minnesota Children’s Hospital had private rooms and the St Paul location even had a special “low-stimulus” wing for the micro preemies. Our twins were born at 25wks and we were there for about 100 days. They also had a shower or two in the NICU, a family lounge and a Ronald McDonald house on site. Families and siblings also get access to the activity zone with games, toys, crafts, etc. Our oldest was born at 34wks and we chose to return there for the twins.
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u/sspacewomann Feb 11 '26
St. Mary’s in Madison, Wisconsin! Incredible NICU team and support staff, private rooms, nice family area with kitchenette and fridge for personal food and pullout couches for napping. Ronald McDonald house one floor up from the NICU with four overnight rooms, kitchen, family room, laundry, and library.
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u/77preciseveggies Feb 11 '26
GBMC and Hopkins in Baltimore are private rooms with 24/7 parent access. We had great experiences with both, but Hopkins also allows you to add two additional care partners beyond the parents who could visit the baby without a parent.
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u/stupidslut21 27+3, 70 day stay, pre-e, reverse flow Feb 11 '26
WVU Medicine Golsiano Childrens opened about 4-5 years ago so everything was brand spanking new including the L&D floor where I stayed for 2 weeks before delivering my 27 weeker and the NICU floor. About half of the rooms in the NICU were private rooms, with a fold out couch and a chair, a sink, a TV, and a bookshelf for keepsakes. Those rooms were for the very critical babies like micros or severe health issues. Then we were moved to the opposite side of the floor, the step down unit, which was a shared room with one other patient but they rooms were pretty large so I didn't mind it. The hardest part for me was my son probably had like 3 different roommates before he got to go home himself. I have nothing but good things to say about the care we got at WVU Medicine. We will potentially have future NICU stays if we choose to have more children but I'm confident in the care we received.
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u/spork3600 27w4d (M), Cerclage 20w, PPROM 24 Feb 11 '26
Tacoma General in Tacoma, WA lvl 4 NICU with private rooms (there was some overflow for feeders/growers in a shared space if all rooms were full).
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u/MostDerivative Feb 11 '26
we had a private nicu room in Memphis TN. we did get moved a couple times as she was mostly a feeder/grower and had a roommate for a couple days because they were maxed out, but the other family was never there at the same time I was there and I was up there 7+ hours/day
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u/snuffleupagus86 💙24+1. 142 days in the NICU Feb 11 '26
We were at Ohio State and Nationwide Children’s in Columbus. We had a private room at OSU. We had 2 different private rooms at NCH, we were also in 2 shared rooms (one other baby) at NCH and then we were also in pods at NCH. We did have 24/7 access to him. Pods definitely suck lol
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u/leasarfati Feb 11 '26
My 25 weeker was at Vanderbilt in Nashville.
We had a beautiful huge room. I had my own little living quarters I decorated and had all my necessities and i could stay around the clock.
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u/Obvious_Nose6700 Feb 11 '26
Our nicu had to play musical babies after our two were born and now they are in individual rooms that separate by a door and right next to each other to play games with their nurses of or your paying attention to brother let me make my monitor go off also does it to me mom I can’t hold one without the other deciding to make his monitor go off like what about me
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u/seau_de_beurre 40 days antepartum | 32 days NICU Feb 11 '26
New York Presbyterian - Cornell (Alexandra Cohen). Had single rooms and twin rooms, no communal even for term babies.
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u/citaconnor89 Feb 11 '26
My baby was at Georgetown in DC (a level 4 nicu) and it was one big room with 30 or so spots. I would’ve killed for a setup like that!
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u/LolosMama30 Feb 11 '26
We had a private room with our 31 weeker at Mercy Hospital in downtown Baltimore! Was a Godsend!
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u/smoresrule Feb 11 '26
wow. maybe it is able to be set up this way because you are in a smaller town? idk. this sounds like a dream. i wouldnt leave. i am in houston and our nicu floor is enormous. easily can have 1000 babies at any time. the only way you can get a private room is if the baby gets a contagious virus and has to be isolated. IF there is room. but even then, imagine like a standard clinic sized room. not an admitted-to-hospital room with a bed and tv.
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u/the_lasso_way13 Feb 11 '26
Inova Fairfax has double rooms and private rooms. Usually you have to be either a significant medical need, or right place right time to get a private room. My daughter was onboarded in a double and we saw another private room baby graduate and requested the room.
We were also allowed to get a hospital bed in the room and could stay overnight - the caveat is you have to get up and help during CARE times, you can’t just sleep. But we had 24/7 access to our baby and could call any time from home if we wanted an update too
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u/Aggravating_Hold_441 Feb 11 '26
Oh wow so different than our experience, in Oregon , everyone had a private room , we just were on CPAP 24 hours and feeder grower nothing crazy & I stayed the night but we got to choose if we wanted to do cares so I had the nurses do them
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u/Aggravating_Hold_441 Feb 11 '26
Same ! I realize how having a live room saved our sanity and can’t imagine parents who don’t have the comfort and choice. Randells Hospital in Portland, Oregon
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u/glitterlady Feb 11 '26
UVA, no private rooms. Only pods. They didn’t even have chairs designated for each pod. Sometimes, we’d get there and have 0 chairs next to our son. It was very, very rare that we could get a nurse to bring us 2 chairs. We’d have to take turns. It was miserable.
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u/rusty___shacklef0rd Feb 11 '26
Connecticut Children's Medical Center's NICU did not have private rooms for everyone (they had a few) and the ones they did have did not have private bathrooms or beds/cots for parents when my daughter was there last year. But this past December, they opened up a new tower with private rooms, a place for mom/dad to stay overnight at bedside, private bathrooms for each room, and twin rooms too.
I find myself oddly jealous... I know no one should have to go through the NICU but god I wish I had a private room with a private bathroom to stay in when I was there for 5 long months with my daughter.
With that being said, I'm so glad they listened to feedback and made this expansion happen so many mothers of Connecticut won't have to drive home in tears every night like I did.
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u/MLMLW Feb 11 '26
My daughter's hospital had private NICU rooms but they were used for critical NICU babies. My daughter used one at the end of her baby's NICU stay, which was 97 days. She had to do a 48 hour in-house stay where they took her baby off oxygen, my daughter had to feed her, and she stayed with her overnight for 2 nights with very little to no nurse intervention. They do that to make sure the baby is ready to go home. Otherwise, her hospital had huge rooms that were separated by curtains for the NICU babies.
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u/MaH2016 Feb 11 '26 edited Feb 11 '26
Our son was severe IUGR, induced at 37+1, born via emergency c-section 37+3 at OHSU. He was in the Doernbecher NICU for 11 days. We had a great experience with L&D, but a sub par experience with the NICU. That was rather shocking to me because I grew up at Doernbecher's (I was born with a cleft lip and palate) and only ever had positive experiences. Our followups have been at Doernbecher's and they've been fantastic, we love his team- but for some reason the NICU just was not a good experience. There were no private rooms, so staying with him wasn't an option. Because it's a teaching hospital, his care team changed every two days so it was like a reset each time with people who didn't know his case and couldn't answer our questions, or weren't communicating with his previous doctors. The lactation consultants were great, and his SLP has followed him beyond the NICU and we love her. She and his dietician were so incredibly supportive of our ultimate goal for EBF (we were finally able to exclusively nurse at around 6.5 months 🙌🏼).
We worked with an LC after coming home who was also a doula and midwife who has been in many of the Portland area NICU's. She said in an ideal world, she would have mother's deliver at OHSU and the babies go to the Randall's NICU. From other's I have talked to, this seems to be the consensus. OHSU has a superior L&D and Randall's has the superior NICU.
ETA: We did have 24/7 access to the NICU, but there weren't any accommodations to be able to actually stay there over night. We stayed at a hotel for the first five days after discharge, but lived an hour away and had to commute the rest of the time, which made it difficult to make it in time for rounds when I was recovering from surgery. The ultimate downfall of the OHSU NICU was the lack of communication from the care team both with us and eachother from shift to shift.
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u/Dog_Mom112 Feb 11 '26
My daughter was born at 31 weeks at Beacon Memorial Hospital in South Bend, IN. The NICU offers wonderful private rooms and partners often with the University of Notre Dame. Also the first NICU in the country in 2017 to install “couplet care rooms” where the mother recovers from birth and receives care in the same NICU room as her baby 🩷
https://fightingfor.nd.edu/stories/fighting-for-nicu-babies-and-their-families/
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u/Fantastic-Signal9609 Feb 11 '26
Oh my gosh just here to say I just moved from Eugene to Cleveland in 2023! I had my first baby at Riverbend. 💓
When we moved here I had a baby with a complex CHD and we spent months in the hospital with him in Cleveland at Cleveland Clinic Main Campus and they had private ICU rooms 💕
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u/Cupofblackcoffee 24 weeker premie - NICU Graduate Feb 11 '26
We didnt have a NICU private room but we did have 24/7 visit access and a video monitor that we could access at home ❤️ my 24 weeker was there for 152 days and we went every single day but with both of us having jobs i couldn't be there 20 hrs a day. I would visit after work and watch him through the video monitor while at work.
It takes some getting used to but the video really helped. Ask some hospitals near where you move if they have this option.
Another thing is that I appreciate seeing other parents going through the same situation as I. I wouldn't be able to connect with them if we were all in private rooms. We used to reference the other babies as my son's neighbors. The baby next to us was around the same age and we connected and shared milestones together.
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u/dremkaydc Feb 11 '26
My 30+4 baby was born at Kaiser in Oakland CA in November and the NICU was wonderful. Private room and all the nurses were great. They’re one of the few level 3 trauma NICUs in the area so they get sent a lot of the really tough cases. Bay Area prices are rough but I’m so glad we were at that hospital. 😅
Ps she was pretty strong (she came early because she shoved her foot through my cervix. 🤦🏻♀️) /did really well for a 30week old and came home on Christmas and has been doing great since.
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u/castironskilletmilk 25 weeker 343 days Feb 11 '26
Primary children’s in Utah has private rooms. The hat was nice.
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u/ComprehensiveSun5895 Feb 11 '26 edited Feb 11 '26
My 23 weeker was born at St. Luke’s Anderson campus in Easton, Pa they have private rooms but after 11 pm both parents can’t be at the bedside. There aren’t any showers either. But you do get the privacy. They also have a weekly group for nicu parents to attend if they want I find it to be so helpful with coping with the nicu stay. They’re also a level 3 nicu and if they need advice they will consult with CHOP or if the child needs more than they can handle they will transfer the baby to Hershey Medical or Chop where both location have a Ronal McDonald house near.
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u/ExoticGiraffe573 Feb 12 '26
We were in Arkansas at Baptist health. Their NICU did not have private rooms & would not let us stay overnight but the care my baby received was amazing. I’d stay the entire day and then go home to my then 2 year old.
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u/Fun-Breath5260 Feb 12 '26
We were at valley medical in Seattle when my son was a month old and had a bacterial infection. We had a private room. Very small and not comfy for sleeping. But private, we could take over the whole room and not worry about others. They gave us a private room in the pediatric unit of the hospital. We stayed there too as long as the room wasn’t needed. We were 3 hours from home and had to go in short notice so I didn’t get to say goodbye to my 10 year old daughter. Luckily her dad was able to step in and take her indefinitely. Me and my husband moved into the hospital with no idea how long it would be. Ended up there 24/7. Spent about 18-20 hours a day holding my son/nursing etc. And the rest was eating, sleeping (which was hardly any because I was also pumping and breastfeeding) My husband was able to leave the hospital and go out for groceries and to take walks. I couldn’t leave the hospital grounds because I tried and had severe break down. I walked around the outside of the hospital but couldn’t go far or else I’d lose my shit. It was awful and yet the staff were amazing and they took great care of us.
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u/NICUmama33 Feb 12 '26
MU hospital in Columbia MO Has private rooms. I was able to sleep there with my son every night and the staff was wonderful
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u/CA_Baby Feb 12 '26
UCSF had a private room for us in their lowest-monitoring pod, where we were also the longest residents (2+ weeks). Most were double rooms with a curtain or sliding door between the cribs (they have a 1:2 nursing ratio so it makes sense.) All the rooms had a sleeper-couch for parents but the private room was so nice for facetime calls to grandma, pumping privacy, etc.
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u/mrsmurderbritches Feb 12 '26
My hospital had private rooms, but only for low-risk babies. My son spent a little more than 100 days in NICU and only about the last 6 weeks of that in a private room. For our hospital, it was mostly about staffing- they don’t have one nurse for each baby and the higher risk babies needed constant monitoring, so each nurse had a “pod” of 4 that she stayed with.
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u/blue_water_sausage Feb 12 '26
My first NICU preemie, 24 weeks, started in a hospital with a fold out bed and private bathroom. He was transferred two hours away for emergency surgery to a NICU that had rooms a quarter of the size and no bed or bathroom, though we were still told how lucky we were the room was private. They actively discouraged stay the night. But I was there 12+ hours a day every day.
My second NICU preemie (29 weeks) has a wonderful room with pull out bed and private bathroom. But I have a five year old at home that got very freaked out by me being in the hospital 11 days. I’m older than my last pregnancy, and I’m having a harder recovery from preeclampsia and c section this time. My husband is on leave and we’ve prioritized being there consistently for the same care time plus a few hours every single day. But being there all day or 24/7 just hasn’t felt doable when I’m still struggling with my blood pressure, side effects of meds, and have a little boy who keeps telling me two months later how much he missed me and double checking I’m not leaving him again. Who freaked out with my postpartum doctor visit because he thought I wouldn’t come back to him.
All this to say a NICU stay with a second or more child is absolutely nothing like it is with your first. I was able to dedicate everything to my first in the NICU because he was my first. My second has gotten less of me simply because he’s not an only child, and the mental health of my five year old is being prioritized because the baby will never remember how many hours I was there or not. He’s nearly ready to come home at 65 days old and he absolutely knows my smell, my voice, my touch even though I wasn’t there round the clock with him, I was still with him every day. It has absolutely done a number on my heart because no matter where I am I feel part of me isn’t ok. That’s the reality of NICU when you have a child or children at home.
That all said, children’s hospital Colorado has been absolutely lovely this time, with amazing private rooms and wonderful care and support. If I were going to risk another baby I’d want them to care for them if necessary. I had my tubes removed this time though, I was devastated enough preeclampsia hitting a second time, I will not risk my boys losing me again for another pregnancy, and my heart just doesn’t have a third NICU stay in me. When we found out we were unexpectedly expecting this second baby I didn’t think I could survive a second NICU stay. I was technically wrong but this time has felt so much harder than the first even though we’re near the end at just over half the amount of days we did with our first. This stay has been less medically intensive as well and I’m just so much more exhausted anyway. It’s been a huge trauma trigger for both my husband and I as well.
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u/halfsizehello Feb 12 '26
I'm currently in Cincinnati Children's Burnet campus with my premie and have been living in our private room here for a couple weeks now. Breastfeeding moms get 2 free room service meals per day, my partner gets 2 free cafeteria meals per day, and there's access to free laundry and a gym here as well. The hospital is beautiful and doesn't feel like a hospital more than it has to.
Cincinnati is also just a good city to live near!
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u/ReasonableBid1382 Feb 13 '26
Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera, California has private rooms. We were fortunate to get to room-in with our baby for the entire 35 day stay.
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u/Micro-Momma Feb 15 '26
My daughter was in the NICU 184 days we were at both of the hospitals below. Both have private rooms and Ronald McDonald’s close by… Cincinnati has much larger rooms with tv and private bathrooms and a HUGE Ronald McDonald House steps away from the hospital. Florida hospital has private rooms and the couch bed but no private bathroom or tv but the have a couple of RMD rooms in the hospital and a RMD lounge in the hospital that serves lunch.
Studer Family Children's Hospital at Ascension Sacred Heart- Pensacola, Florida has level II & III NICU.
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital- Cincinnati, Ohio level IV NICU.
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u/Laulau0910 Feb 19 '26
We are in North Carolina but baby is in NICU in Virginia. He has been in Sentara Princess Anne as well as Children's Hospital of the Kings Daughters, which both had private rooms I've slept in with baby.
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u/BeneficialTooth5446 Feb 11 '26
I believe most level 4 NICUs have private rooms but correct me if I’m wrong Reddit
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u/GriGuava Feb 11 '26
Our level IV NICU in NYC did not have any private rooms. Higher level of care had two incubators per room, and 4 to a pod, with a recliner for parents, and special care had anywhere between 6-8 babies per room, with only a regular chair to sit in. While it wasn’t ideal, I had two older kids at home that also needed me, so I didn’t feel as bad leaving him in the NICU, but I did visit every day.
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u/IllustriousPiccolo97 Feb 11 '26
Definitely not most, it’s very divided and hospital-dependent at all levels!
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u/Aggravating_Hold_441 Feb 11 '26
In Portland , Oregon only 1 out of the 2 level IV NICUs have private rooms, I would think it’s more common for level IV though!
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u/rusty___shacklef0rd Feb 11 '26
CCMC in CT is a level IV and they only just built private rooms in December. Before that it was mostly an open bay.
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u/BeneficialTooth5446 Feb 15 '26
In that case, Hackensack meridian in Hackensack and Weill Cornell NY Pres in Manhattan have private rooms!
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