Neonatal GRAD clinic

Leaving the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is the first big step on your baby’s continuing journey. At the NICU GRAD (growth and development) clinic, we provide transitional care for infants after they leave for home, as well as nutritional and developmental screening. Our goal is to ensure that your infant has the best long-term growth, nutritional and developmental outcomes possible.

The GRAD clinic treats:

• Premature infants, twins, triplets and beyond
• Infants with chronic lung disease
• Infants with complex nutrition requirements
• Infants with kidney injury
• Infants with complex surgical and cardiac problems
• Infants with neurologic conditions identified in the period after delivery
• Infants requiring medical equipment at home including oxygen and tube feeding
• Infants at high risk for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection

What to expect

Visits begin within a few weeks of hospital discharge from the NICU. Laboratory studies, sonograms and X-rays will be obtained as needed to follow issues identified in the NICU or at the time of the visit. We know that you are the most important person in your baby’s life, and their biggest advocate—so we’ll teach you how to help your baby thrive.

This might include infant positioning, feeding techniques, ways to play with your baby and home activities to stimulate and support development. If your infant is at high risk for RSV infection, we help to coordinate administration of Synagis to decrease this risk. We may make a referral to our early intervention program to assess the need for physical, occupational and/or speech and feeding therapy. And if you need a little extra support, you can meet with a social worker experienced in caring for NICU graduates and their families.

Once the baby reaches 6 months, their care may be transitioned to a developmental pediatrician to continue tracking milestones. Ongoing developmental screening may continue through age 3.

We unite a diverse team of specialists to support you and your infant both inside and outside of the NICU. We communicate with your pediatrician and other pediatric specialists to ensure seamless care.

At each visit, the infant is evaluated by a:

• Pediatric nurse practitioner
• Pediatric physical or occupational therapist
• Neonatal dietitian
• Neonatologist with expertise in neonatal follow-up