Neonatal Intensive Care

The Messina Family Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at South Shore Hospital is the first and only Level III NICU located in a community hospital in Massachusetts. The Level III Messina Family NICU and the Level II Andrade Family Special Care Nursery enable us to care for babies born at any time in pregnancy who have a wide range of medical conditions.

The unit is staffed by doctors, nurses, and respiratory therapists with specific training in the care of ill, premature, and recovery newborns. Our NICU doctors are dually affiliated with both South Shore Hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital. 

Our Approach

Parents might feel like passive observers while their infant is hospitalized. Not at South Shore Health.

Here, NICU parents are a key member of their baby’s care team. We offer the Family Integrated Care model, or FICare. South Shore Hospital’s NICU is the first in Massachusetts to implement this model of care.

Our caregivers teach you the skills you need to feel confident to care for your baby at home, including diaper changes, bathing, feeding, recognizing vital signs, giving oral medications, and preparing feedings.

We also invite you to participate in daily rounds with our multidisciplinary team when we make plans for the day and listen to your input. You can be as involved as you wish and we will help you to feel confident when your baby is ready to go home. 

We also provide a free weekly parent support group, where you’ll connect with current and former NICU parents to get support and advice from families who know what you’re going through.

When you can’t be at the hospital, you can use the AngelEye Camera System — an internet-based, secure video solution that allows you to interact with your hospitalized newborn 24 hours a day from your computer, laptop, tablet, or smart phone.