Preparing for Discharge

The special day you've been waiting for is almost here. Your baby will soon be ready to come home. Once your baby achieves the following milestones, she's getting closer to going home: 
  • Keeps herself warm
  • Sleeps in a crib, not an incubator
  • Weighs about 4 pounds or more 
  • Has learned to breast- or bottle-feed.
  • Breathes on her own.
Getting Ready to Take Your Baby Home
To help prepare you for going home and taking care of your baby full time, staff in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) will help you become comfortable feeding, dressing and bathing your baby. They will teach you:
  • How to giver her medications
  • Take her temperature 
  • Use medical equipment at home

The more you practice caring for your baby while she is in the hospital, the easier it will be when you get home. Before your baby goes home, learn infant cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Your hospital may offer the class, or you can find one through the local Red Cross or fire department. Although you probably will never need to use CPR, it could help you save your baby's life in a medical emergency.

A team from the hospital, including your baby's primary nurse, will help you plan for your baby's discharge. They will refer you to any specialists or community services you may need, including equipment-supply companies. The social worker at the hospital often can help make arrangement for equipment deliveries, payment and other important issues.

Rooming In
You may be nervous about caring for your baby on your own. Many hospitals give you a chance to "room in" with your baby for a night or two before she goes home. Parents often find this a helpful way to prepare to go home with their babies.

One or both parents can stay with the baby and take charge of her care. But the nurse is there to answer any questions, if you have any.

A Final Checkup Before Discharge
Before the big day, your baby may have a few final tests, such as blood tests and a hearing test. Your baby may also be given a "car-seat test." Your baby's heart and breathing are checked as he sits in the car seat to make sure the positioning is safe for him. When all the test results are in and the baby is ready to be discharged, you can finally take your baby home!

September 2007

 






 


  
  © 2008 March of Dimes Foundation. All rights reserved. The March of Dimes is a not-for-profit organization recognized as tax-exempt under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3). Our mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality.