It is very important to understand that the newborn's brain is very different to the child or adult brain. Neonatal neurology and neurocritical care is dedicated to the developmental progress of these critically ill newborns including brain injury prevention and management. Neonatal neurologists monitor, examine and treat newborns in the NICU and beyond. Practices within this dedicated field have developed a lot in the past couple decades due to research and technological developments. This section will cover how to identify the infant who needs neuro support as well as intraventricular hemorrage (IVH), hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and brain cooling, seizures and more.
Dr. Taeun Chang, Neonatal and Fetal Neurologist from Children's National, explains what neonatal neurology is and what she does. This serves as the healthcare providers' orientation to neonatal neurology. Her job is to not only take care of these little patients but to make sure the healthcare provider aware of the neurological state of these patients. For a parents' orientation to neonatal neurology go to the parents corner.