NICU Facilities

At Southmead Hospital NICU we are proud of our extensive facilities available for family use.

Our unit philosophy is to provide a high standard of family-centred care from admission to discharge, with mutual respect and open communication promoted at all times. We offer comprehensive educational support to both our medical and nursing staff to maintain the highest quality of care with a strong evidence base

We have a family room central to the unit which, when your baby is stable enough can be used to have family time together away from others.  This room is also used for parent craft such as baby massage, bathing and resuscitation skills. It has oxygen and air ports, providing a safe environment away from the busy clinical nursery rooms for planned parent and baby interaction sessions and expressing or breastfeeding.

We have a parent coffee room with a television, sofa and food preparation facilities. We also have a private enclosed garden/outdoor dining area and a lovely children’s playroom for supervised sibling use.

Here at Southmead NICU we are able to offer a range of accommodation for the parents of babies in our care. We have family accommodation located close to the hospital with five double bedroom en-suite rooms for the use of parents who live outside the Bristol area. We also offer parents the opportunity to ‘room in’ with their baby prior to discharge home.  We have three double bedrooms directly on the unit so you can ease yourselves into parenthood by spending a few nights with your baby, knowing staff are close by to support you. There are bathroom facilities with a shower available for use when staying on the unit.

Supporting you and your baby

We provide financial input for families during their NICU journey. Each family receives free parking while their baby is on NICU and one meal voucher per parent per day to help with extra costs while families are in hospital.

We have a dedicated multi-disciplinary team providing high-quality care for sick and premature babies. We have a firm belief in learning and professional development, and we ensure that a motivated and enthusiastic team is caring for your baby. We have dedicated teams of specialist nurses in education, breastfeeding and developmental care who have protected hours to ensure the needs of parents and staff are met. We want to work with parents and encourage them to be partners in their baby’s care and involved in the decision-making process.

Take a virtual tour of the unit

The South West Neonatal Network has produced virtual tours of all the units in the region to help families familiarise themselves with the NICUs and facilities.

These tours take you through the unit and provide information about some of the key areas. Take a look inside.