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NMH | 2024 41 Neonatology T he Department of Neonatology aims to deliver excellence in neonatal care through innovation, cooperation, education, research with attention to evidence based practice, empathy and a family-centred approach. The NMH Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) provides tertiary medical services for newborns up to 6 weeks of age and admits patients from all over Ireland. The neonatal unit has 35 beds (9 NICU, 13 HDU, 13 SCBU) and provides a high level of care to medically complex neonates. It is recognised for its expertise in the management of prematurity, neonatal encephalopathy, seizures, perinatal stroke, sepsis, twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, rhesus isoimmunisation and congenital anomalies. Neonatology We supervise the care of all liveborn babies (n=6,722) who are born in this hospital even if they do not require admission to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Our staff attend all instrumental deliveries, emergency caesarean sections and the delivery of any baby where there are recognised risk factors: in 2024, the instrumental delivery rate was at 10.7% and emergency C/S rate 20.1%. Every baby born in NMH undergoes a comprehensive physical examination by one of the neonatal team before discharge home. On average, we examine approximately 19 babies a day. Apart from providing reassurance to parents, this examination allows us to pick up conditions including heart murmurs, unstable hips and congenital anomalies that may not have been suspected James Bingham with his newborn son Tadgh O'Connell Bingham and Sheila Fronda, Staff Nurse in the Neonatal Unit. antenatally so that advice can be given, and appropriate follow-up arranged. With mothers and babies spending less and less time in hospital, it is often a challenge to arrange such tests and referrals in such a short-time frame, particularly over weekends. We provide a nurse-doctor team every third week to the National Neonatal Transport Programme (NNTP), a vital service that transports critically ill newborn babies from anywhere in the country. Our staff is available to meet any family in advance of a delivery where problems are anticipated. This service has grown significantly over the past few years for a variety of reasons including more widespread access to routine antenatal scanning, advances in neonatal care and recent legislation allowing for termination of pregnancy in cases of fatal