Tiny Fighters

In the NICU at USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital, strength begins small, measured in breaths, heartbeats and the determined push of a foot no larger than a thumb. These tiny patients keep showing us what resilience looks like with a rise in the chest or a stretch of an arm. It’s the hardest work they’ll ever do. But they won’t do it alone. Nearly 50 NICU nurses staff the unit each day — part of a multidisciplinary team of more than 300 supporting the hospital’s largest unit.

Parents quickly learn the unit’s language: terms like sats (a baby’s oxygen level) and FiO2 (how much oxygen the team is giving). It becomes part of how they understand each day’s progress.

About 1,000 baies a year are admitted to the Hollis J. Wiseman Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. On this day in the NICU, more than 75 babies and their parents move through a rhythm of feedings, vitals and long waits.

In a place where conditions can shift quickly, nurses stay ahead by absorbing information wherever they are, even in the brief steps between one pod to the next. Some infants arrive here, in the region’s only Level III NICU, at just 21 weeks and 5 days — an age when survival depends on a highly specialized team and environment.

Colostrum,  the first milk, rich with antibodies is handled with care. Though advanced machines can do the work, this nurse prefers to warm and mix it by hand, a method honed through years of caring.

Below, NICU physicians review each baby’s progress several times a day, adjusting ventilator settings, feeds and medication based on even small changes.

A small camera above each NICU bed allows parents to check in through a secure app. When families are here in person, they see what they can also view from home: a tiny body surrounded by care.

Because stroking can be overstimulating for the smallest babies, parents offer a still “handhug,” providing gentle pressure for comfort. A curled finger around a parent’s hand can be a reassuring response.

The doors never close for long. Inside, teams continue their work around the clock: stabilizing, supporting and celebrating every inch of progress. What unfolds here is shaped by expertise, technology and the steady human touch that holds everything together.