Life-Saving Therapies
When a newborn's lungs or heart need "time off" due to damage or disease, extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) can keep the baby alive while the heart or lungs heal. Seattle Children's is the only neonatal ECMO center in Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho to offer this and related life-saving therapies.
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Expert Neonatal Transport
Moving a critically ill newborn requires caring people with special skills and infant-sized lifesaving equipment. Seattle Children's has both.
More about neonatal transport
Reducing Brain Injury
When a baby doesn't get enough oxygen – due to asphyxia, stroke or other stresses before or during birth – the brain may be seriously injured. Brain injury may be reduced if the baby's body temperature is kept low for three days ("hypothermia"). SeattleChildren's can continuously monitor brain activity before and during this new form of treatment.
More about protecting babies' brains
Neonatologist and researcher Dr. Sandra “Sunny” Juul is studying how the combination of hypothermia and a particular hormone (erythropoietin) might reduce or even prevent brain injury due to birth asphyxia, stroke and other stresses.
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Newborns respond to pain medicines differently than older children or adults. Neonatologist Dr. Christine Gleason is a national expert on pain in newborns. She and her team are conducting research to find effective treatments for pain while minimizing potential long-term side effects.
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Seattle Children's initiated the Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Stillbirth, an international, collaborative effort to increase awareness and accelerate innovative research and interventions that will improve maternal, newborn and child health outcomes.
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Our research center seeks to understand, prevent and treat pediatric infections, including infections during pregnancy that cause preterm birth.
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