NICU Jargon

Recurrent periods when your baby stops breathing and needs stimulation.

A type of chronic lung disease.

The video monitor that displays your baby’s heart rate, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation and blood pressure on a continuous basis.

Also known as heart-lung bypass. This is the definitive therapy for respiratory and/or heart failure used whenever the heart can’t pump blood effectively and/or the lungs cannot exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide.

The age of your baby in weeks since conception.

The breathing tube placed inside your baby’s trachea that connects to the ventilator.

A nasal cannula hooked up to a different delivery system that provides heated, humidified oxygen at higher flows than a regular nasal cannula.

A special type of ventilator that breathes >500 breaths/minute and makes your baby “shake”.

Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.  The condition occurring in a baby who has experienced decreased oxygen supply prior to birth, resulting in brain damage.  Previously called “birth asphyxia,” HIE is now the preferred term because it better reflects the underlying pathophysiology.  HIE is classified as mild, moderate, and severe, and may be treated with hypothermia, or intentional body cooling.

A baby born to a mother who had diabetes while pregnant.

The respiratory distress caused when meconium stool is passed before birth into the amniotic fluid and gets into the fetal lungs.

he condition caused by intrauterine exposure to narcotics (opioids such as morphine, oxycodone, heroin, methadone, buprenorphrine, hydromorphone) followed by abrupt cessation at the time of birth.

A mode of respiratory support that provides supplemental oxygen and airflow but not positive pressure.

A mode of respiratory support that uses a nasal cannula or a mask rather than an endotracheal tube.

A type of acquired intestinal abnormality that may require surgery.