Patient Stats
- UAMS sees around 3500 deliveries annually, with about half needing care from our NICU team.
- We care for infants as young as 22 weeks gestation, and birth weights of less than one pound.
- We care for infants and families from all 75 Arkansas counties.
Patient and Family Support
- We have expanded our partnership with Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkansas, who built and run the Ronald McDonald Family Room within the UAMS NICU. The Ronald McDonald staff also provide meals, educational opportunities and other support for families during their NICU stay. Families can also stay across the street from UAMS at the Home for Healing
- Other services in the NICU include dedicated dietitians, pharmacists, speech pathologists, physical and occupational therapists, discharge planners, social workers, trained volunteers, and pastoral care support.
- We work closely with several community partners and the Arkansas Department of Health on projects and initiatives to improve maternal and infant health and decrease infant mortality. We have a dedicated Infant Safety program in the NICU that includes child passenger safety education and safe sleep initiatives.
- We work very closely with our OB colleagues on labor and delivery, and the interdisciplinary Arkansas Fetal Diagnosis and Management Program to support families during pregnancy, and help them prepare for delivery and NICU care. We also work very closely with our pediatric colleagues at Arkansas Children’s (including cardiology, surgery, neurology, genetics, nephrology and others). The same group of neonatologists work in both the UAMS and Arkansas Children’s NICU (we are all UAMS faculty), and a group of those neonatologists also provide ongoing care after discharge in some of the special follow-up clinics for NICU graduates at Arkansas Children’s.
NICU Quality and Safety
- The UAMS NICU has several committees and programs dedicated to ongoing quality improvement, patient safety, and family support. These include our Continuing Quality Improvement committee (CQI), Infant Safety committee, nursing unit council, Love Lives bereavement committee, and NICU Family Experience Council. We also participate in the Vermont Oxford Network quality collaborative, which is dedicated to improving the care and outcomes of neonates worldwide.
Outreach, Teaching, and Research
- Dr. Whit Hall connects with up to 20 nurseries weekly with his telenursery rounds. Outside providers have access to consultation with OB (through the UAMS center for distance health high-risk pregnancy program) or neonatology through ACH Angel One transport. Our faculty write and review many of the ANGELS obstetric and neonatal guidelines, outlining up to date medical management of a variety of pertinent topics for providers around the state.
- Our unit participates in multiple national multi-site clinical trials, which is an important way for us to advance the field of neonatal-perinatal medicine. Read more about our current research initiatives.
- 90% of Arkansas pediatricians train at ACH and UAMS, and their experience with deliveries and neonatal resuscitation occurs almost exclusively at UAMS. We also participate in training 2 neonatal-perinatal fellows each year, as well as other students and learners.