Level 2 NICU
Simi Valley Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
Specialized and personalized care for newborns in need of treatment
Adventist Health Simi Valley’s eight-bed, level 2 neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) provides specialized and highly personalized care for babies who are born prematurely and/or with special medical needs.
As a level 2 NICU, we are able to provide all necessary care for babies born at our hospital at 32 weeks’ gestation or later who require specialized medical services. Our services include short-term respiratory ventilation, oxygen therapy, IV parenteral nutrition, management of physician-prescribed medications, physical and occupational therapy, and more.
The NICU operates in a manner that mimics conditions in the womb, offering a familiar, soothing and healing environment for your baby. To achieve this, incubators provide a warm and comforting place for your baby. In addition, our care team practices cluster care, an approach that minimizes the number of times they interrupt your baby’s rest.
A focus on bonding
Our top priority is to provide ample opportunity for you to bond with your baby. Your care team will make sure you are able to hold your baby as much as possible, have skin-to-skin contact and spend other intimate moments with your newborn. Research has proven, over and over, this time with your baby has a profoundly positive effect on them — physically, psychologically and emotionally.
As a designated Baby-Friendly Hospital, our commitment to mother-baby bonding includes helping moms and their newborns successfully breastfeed — an activity that has many lifelong health benefits for both mom and baby.
Your NICU care team
Adventist Health Simi Valley’s NICU is led by a group of highly skilled and experienced pediatric intensivists. Pediatric intensivists are physicians who are specialize in caring for babies born prematurely and/or with particular illnesses or conditions.
Other physician specialists are called upon to provide their expertise, as needed. This includes such specialties as pediatric ophthalmology (eye health) and pediatric cardiology.
To support breastfeeding, our NICU nurses are trained to assist with breastfeeding. A clinical lactation specialist is also available to answer questions about breastfeeding and work with mom and baby to ensure a successful and pleasant breastfeeding experience, who can answer questions about breastfeeding and work with mom and baby to ensure a successful and pleasant breastfeeding experience.
In addition to physicians and nurses, our team includes respiratory therapists, physical therapists and occupational therapists from Adventist Health Simi Valley’s Child Development Center, and a pediatric nutritionist.
Frequently asked questions about the NICU
Who is allowed to visit the NICU and when?
Parents of NICU babies may visit anytime, day or night.