Thanks to your donations, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) has new phototherapy lights for our tiniest patients.

Since their livers are not fully developed yet, premature babies are often jaundiced. The special blue light emitted by the phototherapy lamp is absorbed by the baby’s skin, and gives them the little bit of extra help they need.

“We are so thankful for this new equipment,” says Laura Harsevoort, Manager of the NICU and Children’s Health. “When babies are jaundiced, it’s an emergency and it needs to be treated right away.  Thankfully, it is a transient thing and all it takes is a couple of days under the phototherapy lights and they’re okay. These new lights allow us to provide the best possible care to the babies in the NICU.”

In the past year alone, Niagara Health provided phototherapy to 314 babies across the Post Partum, Neonatal and Children’s Health Units.