My baby has been referred for a neonatal transfer

To provide the best care for your baby the nurses and doctors work as a multidisciplinary team alongside a ward clerk, housekeepers and other healthcare professionals, including: 

• Audiology and radiological technician 

• Consultant surgeons and specialist team 

• Dieticians 

• Discharge planning coordinator 

• Play specialist 

• Pharmacists 

• Ophthalmologist 

• Speech and language therapist 

• Clincial psychologist 

Visit Google Maps for a personalised directions to our site. 

Car parking for patients and visitors is located in one of our two multi-storey car parks located at car park 1. There is a concessionary seven day ticket available for each family. 

How do I get a 7 day ticket?
• Take the usual parking ticket as you enter the main hospital car park then take it to reception on NICU 

• The ticket will then stamped so you will be eligible for a 7 day ticket 

• To exchange your ticket for a 7 day pass you will need to go to the customer service desk which is located 

• Once the service desk has provided you with your 7 day ticket you will then need to go to the ticket machine and insert your ticket and then pay the concessionary payment requested 

• Once you have paid your ticket will be validated for the next 7 days and you will use this ticket each time 

Washing your hands often is really important in the fight against infections. On the unit there is a sink outside the NICU before entering the reception area. Once inside the clinical area where your baby is being looked after, you will be asked to wash your hands again and gel. 

Here is how you should wash your hands to best reduce this risk. When other people come into contact with your baby, ask them to wash their hands like this. Don’t worry about asking people to do this – those close to you will want to help to protect your baby too.

We ask that you do not visit if you are feeling unwell. If you are unable to visit you can video call the unit, see your baby and speak with the team for an update.

If you are planning to stay in parent accommodation please bring light clothes as the unit can get very warm, toiletries, phone charger and food to prepare. 

Chestnut house is an on site accommodation run by the Sick Children's Trust. We have limited parent accommodation available in Chestnut House, which runs independently from the hospital by the charity “The Sick Children’s Trust”. The availability will be discussed once your baby is admitted and is based on the distance from your home and the clinical condition of your baby or child.  Please speak with the nurse caring for your baby.

We value parents as partners in care and hope you feel fully involved in your baby’s care. We will do this by encouraging you to be with your baby and take on responsibility for most of the care of your baby as you feel able. We aim for you to feel as in control as possible, taking into account your confidence and the condition of your baby. As such, unless there is an emergency or exceptional circumstances, we will not prevent you from being with your baby at any time. We currently require parents to adhere to our PPE policy which involves wearing face masks and adhering to good hand hygiene practices in line with current recommendations.

Car parking is free if your baby is on NICU. Our Receptionist will give you a voucher each time you use the car park. Parents will need to take the voucher and their parking ticket to the Main Reception in the West Atrium to have it validated.

We have a parents sitting room within the NICU with fridge, microwave and hot drinks. There are various cafes throughout the hospital. Vouchers are available from NICU Reception for subsidised meals for parents and these are valid in the main restaurant only. Mothers staying in the rooms on NICU are provided with meals. These need to be ordered by placing an order slip in the clear wallet on the door.

Our family room provides a quiet space to rest, and make use of the kitchen area.

We have limited rooms available on the unit for parents to stay overnight and priority is assessed on a daily basis. We encourage parents to stay overnight with their baby prior to going home. There is further accommodation available within the hospital grounds at McKee House, for which there is a £20 deposit. Nursing staff will discuss booking a room with you. Please be aware that availability of these rooms is limited and you may be asked to leave at short notice as priority is given to those parents living out of area.

Luton and Dunstable Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is the lead neonatal unit for babies born in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire hospitals. We provide intensive  care for babies born extremely prematurely, those born with medical problems and those who become ill shortly after birth. We are part of the wider East of England Network and therefore also support babies from other hospitals in the region when needed. Babies who need intensive care will be transferred to us and will stay until they are well enough to return to their local hospital. The unit is made of up of 3 main nurseries; the intensive care room; this is where the sickest babies come for intensive care, high dependency nursery where babies may still require specialist equipment and monitoring and the Special Care Nursery which is for babies getting ready for home and who need a lot less monitoring and equipment.

There are both doctors and nurses responsible for each room. All rooms have a lead nurse, there is also a shift coordinator who is the nurse overall in charge, (usually located in Intensive Care). There will be a named nurse looking after each baby. No room is left unattended throughout the day and night. To help you identify staff members from our team, a notice board is visible at the entrance of NICU with all our photos.

Consultant Neonatologists are available 24/7 on the unit. We have a team of paediatric medical staff consisting of Consultant Neonatologists, Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioners, Registrars and Senior House Officers. Our specialist nursing team consists of Nurse Manager/Matron, Senior Nursing Sisters, Neonatal Nurses, Neonatal Nursery Nurses, Practice Development Nurse, Practice Facilitator and Community Nurses. Dieticians, Physiotherapists, Speech and Language Therapists, Pharmacists, psychotherapist and Social Workers all come to NICU as part of the multi-disciplinary team.

Please be aware that on-site parking can be congested at peak times. So, please consider being dropped off at the hospital or using public transport. NICU parents are entitled to free parking for 1 identified car. Please speak with the nurse-in-charge about this concession. There are three main patient and visitor car parks, one small patient only car park and one disabled car park.

• St Mary’s Car Park (patient and visitors) – This car park is for disabled parking, SSSU drop off and Maternity drop off only. We encourage you to be dropped off at the hospital or use Calnwood Road Car Park. 
• Lewsey Road Car Park (patient and visitors) – This is a new multi-storey car park. Cycling facilities will be available from Monday 25 January 2021. 
• Calnwood Road Car Park (patient and visitors)
• Breast Screening Car Park (patients only – this is located directly outside the building on Lewsey Road and not the multistory staff car park – there are only a handful of spaces available)

Car Park Charges:

The St Mary’s, Lewsey and On-site Disabled car park are all Pay on Foot (POF).Drivers need to take a ticket on entry, then before leaving the car park pay at one of the Pay Stations (located by outside the main entrance and disabled car park). Then place your validated ticket into the machine when you drive to the exit barrier. POF stations accept coins, notes (change given) and debit/credit card payments. These tickets can be validated for free parking for one identified car for NICU parents.Calnwood Road and Breast Screening car parks are Pay and Display (P&D).

It is extremely important to protect all babies from infection risks. All parents and visitors must wash and gel their hands on entering NICU and be bare below the elbow, which means that we ask you to remove wrist watches, bracelets, all rings with stones and roll sleeves up above the elbow. There are posters at each sink and information regarding correct hand washing procedures, please familiarise yourselves with these techniques. Outdoor coats must be left  outside the nurseries or in the parent cloakroom. There are additional precautions in place in relation to the current coronavirus pandemic, we will provide you with information regarding this when you arrive on the NICU. If you are unwell or have cold or flu-like symptoms (example: feel warm to touch, body ache, headache, cough, sore throat, loss or change to your sense of taste or smell), you must not attend the unit. This also applies if you have been in contact with anyone with the described symptoms and you must follow Government advice to self-isolate for 10 days.

Please phone to speak to the nurse-in-charge before attending the NICU if you are unsure as to whether it is safe for you to do so.

We ask all parents to provide nappies, cotton wool, nappy sacks, cotton buds and muslins.  Your baby may also have their own clothes and soft bedding if desired.  Please label your baby’s clothes and bedding and take them home to wash.

We have a number of rooms available for parents to stay in whilst their baby is in our NICU, 2 are located just outside the entrance to the NICU, the others are a very short walk from the NICU and are located in a bungalow and a house just on the perimeter of the hospital grounds.  We prioritise parents from out of area for these rooms. The accommodation is free of charge, however we invite you to make a small contribution towards the maintenance and upkeep of this accommodation if you can afford to do so.