SEPTEMBER is NICU Awareness month! This recognition is due to the collaborative efforts of the Project Sweet Peas non-profit organisation in the United States, and other professional and parent-led organisations worldwide, who wished to create a platform for education of the public about the challenges faced by families of critically ill babies admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and to honour the healthcare teams who provide care for them. It was recognised since the 1920s that there was a need for developing expertise in the area of neonatology (the care of critically ill newborns). JW Ballantyne in 1923 wrote, “There is need for specialisation in neonatal medicine.
This applies to doctors and nurses as well as teaching and construction of hospitals. The specialist in neonatal diseases and the nurse intensively trained and expert in the management of delicate newborns will be commonplace ere long”. His observation was on target! Interestingly, the early researchers and innovators in neonatology were obstetricians and anaesthetists! The terms neonatology and neonatologist( paediatrician with expertise in this area) were coined in the 1960s.
Around the same time, the care of sick newborns became the primary responsibility of paediatricians. Extensive research in this area, led to rapid advances in theoretical knowledge which eventually translated into significant changes in clinical care in the late 1960s and 70s. This has changed the face of Neonatology a.