NICU Basics
Who may be on the care team, how rounds work, why several specialists may be involved, and how the NICU day is structured.
THE ENVIRONMENT
NICU & Medicine
Medical language,
translated.
Approachable newborn and NICU education from a practicing neonatologist — designed to help families understand more without feeling overwhelmed.
NICU / TRANSLATION BOARDSTART HERE
CPAPBreathing support
ROUNDSYour baby’s daily care discussion
FEEDSNutrition + learning to eat
MONITORSInformation, not the whole story
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Why This Matters
A new world can arrive overnight.
A NICU admission can bring unfamiliar words, equipment, numbers, specialists, and decisions all at once. Even families with a medical background can feel overloaded when the patient is their own baby.
PorshaMD is built to add context without pretending the internet can replace your baby’s medical team.
The NICU, Organized
Six areas families hear about often.
Think of this as an orientation map, not a checklist. Every baby’s course is individual.
Prematurity
Gestational age, developmental maturity, and why babies born at the same week can still have very different courses.
DEVELOPMENT
Breathing Support
Oxygen, nasal cannula, CPAP, ventilators, and why respiratory support can change over time.
RESPIRATORY
Feeding & Growth
Breast milk or formula, feeding tubes, growth goals, and the developmental work involved in learning to eat.
NUTRITION
Monitors & Numbers
What common vital signs represent, why alarms happen, and why one isolated number rarely tells the whole story.
MONITORING
Going Home
Common discharge milestones and why readiness depends on the whole clinical picture rather than a single date.
DISCHARGE
02 / AT THE BEDSIDE
Questions are part of good care.
Families should never feel embarrassed asking for a simpler explanation or hearing information more than once. The NICU is a lot to process.
01
“What is the biggest thing my baby is working on today?”
02
“Can you explain what changed since yesterday?”
03
“What are you watching most closely right now?”
04
“What would improvement look like?”
05
“Can you explain that again in a different way?”
The PorshaMD Approach
Understandable does not mean oversimplified.
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Use plain language
Translate the terminology first.
02
Add clinical context
Explain why the information matters.
03
Leave room for nuance
Medicine is rarely one-size-fits-all.
04
Return to the care team
Your baby’s clinicians know the actual case.
Important Note
Education, not individual medical advice.
Information on PorshaMD is for general educational purposes and is not a substitute for diagnosis, treatment, or recommendations from your child’s own healthcare professionals. If you have concerns about your baby or child, contact the medical team caring for them.