Welcome to Neonatology
You want the best possible start to your baby’s life, and we want that for your baby and family. University of Colorado Neonatologists provide expertise, compassion and support to ensure the best possible care for your baby, you and your family.
The Section of Neonatology provides full clinical support for infants and their families at multiple hospitals in the Denver metropolitan area and extends services throughout the Rocky Mountain Region and an 11-state area extending as far as Alaska. Our 22 board-certified neonatologists are nationally and internationally recognized leaders in neonatal care as well as clinical and scientific research.
University of Colorado Hospital – Neonatal Care Unit
The Neonatal Care Unit maintains more than 50
beds with 24 hour care for critically ill premature infants and full-term newborns requiring respiratory support and/or surgical interventions.
Children's Hospital Colorado
Our Children's Colorado NICU is a nationally recognized leader in the
treatment of critically ill infants. Our state-of-the-art NICU provides more than 80 critical care beds for infants up to 3 months of age, and is designated a Level IIIC NICU, the highest distinction granted by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Children’s Colorado NICU is the only NICU in the region with the experience and technology to treat virtually any medical condition affecting newborns. There is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in-house coverage by neonatologists and neonatal
nurse practitioners.
Colorado Institute for Maternal Fetal Health
The
Colorado Institute for Maternal and Fetal Health is a comprehensive maternal-fetal program serving the special needs of high-risk mothers and newborns. This program is built on more than 30 years of partnership between University of Colorado Hospital,
Children's Hospital Colorado, and University of Colorado School of Medicine. We offer access to a highly specialized team of adult and pediatric specialists and resources, and provide at-risk moms and babies with the most advanced care and positive
outcomes.
Denver Health Medical Center
This specialized care area is designed for newborns
who are in need of intensive care following childbirth. The NICU features both private and semi-private rooms equipped with state-of-the-art medical monitoring equipment and a staff of experienced neonatologists and neonatology nurses stationed nearby.
The NICU is located next to the Labor and Delivery Unit, so new moms can be close to their children and newborns can quickly access the care they need immediately following birth.
Poudre Valley Hospital
Our 32-bed state-of-the-art NICU is designed to achieve the best possible
medical outcomes for critically ill premature and full-term newborns. Single family rooms empower parents to remain at their baby’s bedside and participate in their care. Our neonatologists are full time members of the Section of Neonatology,
and provide consultative services and coordinate neonatal transports to PVH from surrounding areas in Northern Colorado, Southern Wyoming and Western Nebraska.
The Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship Training Program is sponsored by the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Children's Hospital Colorado. This is a three-year postdoctoral training program in neonatal-perinatal medicine and is approved by the Residency Review Committee of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The program is directed by Thomas Parker, MD.
Fellows are supervised by faculty within the Section of Neonatology and the division of Perinatal Medicine and Research. The program includes 12 months of clinical training with 21 months of research activity. The program is primarily interested in helping trainees develop successful careers, based on excellence in research, scholarship, and clinical medicine.
The Section also trains pediatric residents and offers electives to fourth-year medical students.
The Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) is taught annually at Children's Hospital Colorado with the intent of educating caregivers so that there is at least one certified individual present at every delivery. Participation in NRP by your hospital's perinatal caregivers is vital.
Interested in a postdoc in neonatology? Fill out our postdoc position inquiry form.
The Section of Neonatology faculty are nationally and internationally recognized researchers with a broad range of research interests fostering programmatic areas of excellence.
Our Neonatology faculty have pioneered many critical developments in neonatal care for critically ill newborns and in many cases were the first in the world to use new therapies including:
- Surfactant replacement for premature babies’ lungs
- Inhaled Nitric Oxide therapy for pulmonary hypertension
- Brain cooling for perinatal brain injury
- Optimal nutritional strategies for low birth weight babies
Focus areas of interest for perinatal/neonatal research include:
- Fetal and Neonatal Nutrition & Metabolism
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn
- Pulmonary Vascular Development
- Worldwide Implementation of Neonatal Resuscitation Program
- The use of stable isotopes and indirect calorimetry to study glucose, non-glucose carbohydrate, and amino acid utilization in the premature infant
- Use of nitric oxide in the term and preterm infant and cardiopulmonary adaptation to altitude
Faculty are also involved in basic research at the molecular, cellular, organ and whole animal levels. Areas of excellence include:
- Research on carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism and on organ blood-flow regulation
- In vivo studies emphasizing chronically catheterized animals take place at the UCSOM Perinatal Research Center. Areas of research interest include pulmonary vascular development as well as placental, cerebral, hepatic, and muscle metabolism in normal, growth-retarded, and hypoxic fetal lambs
- Studies requiring stable isotopic analysis are completed in collaboration with a number of investigators on the UCSOM and Colorado State University campuses
- In vitro studies currently focus on growth-factor regulation and placental development under conditions of placental insufficiency
Perinatal Research Center (PRC)
The Department of Pediatrics Perinatal Research Center (PRC) is the longest standing research and educational program at Anschutz Medical Campus. Faculty who conduct studies at the Center are on the leading edge of research in maternal, placental, and fetal physiology.
The PRC supports the Division of Perinatal Medicine, which is jointly managed by the Departments of Pediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynecology. Other primary participating research and educational programs include the Pediatric Heart Lung Center and the Laboratory for Lung Development.