There are a lot of different professionals involved in supporting babies in the neonatal unit, and there is usually a board in the unit that has pictures of all the key clinians. Every healthcare professional should introduce themselves to you and explain their role, but if they don’t, then it is important to ask them to do this.
Some of these include:
- Medical doctors (neonatologists) who specialise in care for babies, including consultants, registrars and researchers
- Surgeons who specialise in pediatric and neonatal surgery
- Anaesthetists who will be involved in any surgical procedures
- Nurses ranging from the Matron in charge to sisters and staff nurses
- Breastfeeding nurses who help with expressing breast milk, breast-feeding and management of donated breast milk
- Occupational therapists or physiotherapists who can help with your baby’s development including movement and play
- Play therapists, nursery nurses, community nurses, dieticians or speech and language therapists who specialise in neonatal play and development
- Health visitors who plan for your discharge and support at home
- Radiologists who may visit to take scans or x-rays of your baby
- Parents
