Neonatal services

Welcome to Neonatal Services. The service at our Chelsea site is based around our regional (level 3) neonatal intensive care unit, where we look after babies born prematurely or who have other problems after birth. We are part of the Northwest London Neonatal Operational Delivery Network and provide the designated neonatal surgical service for this region. We admit babies from both within this area and all over London and southeast England for specialist medical and surgical care.

At West Middlesex our Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) is a level 1 unit adjacent to Queen Mary's Maternity Unit for managing babies with special care needs and high dependency care.

We work closely with the maternity unit to provide a complete perinatal service for pregnant women and their babies. The obstetric and fetal medicine teams are experienced in dealing with mothers who have complicated pregnancies, and our team is involved at an early stage to plan the neonatal care of babies born to these mothers.

Mission statement

Our aim is to provide consistent and excellent care with the best outcomes for all of our patients and their families. We will constantly strive to provide an environment that promotes team working and fosters learning and research in a culture of openness and honesty to maintain our high standards.

Lead centre for paediatric surgery in North West London

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital is the lead centre for paediatric surgery in North West London. Our paediatric surgeons perform complex surgery on babies, some of whom have surgical problems identified before birth. The surgeons are supported by a team of paediatric anaesthetists. Many babies undergo operations on their bowel, and these babies benefit from expert input from our paediatric gastroenterologists and dietician following their surgery.

Babies born with antenatally-diagnosed heart problems are managed jointly with paediatric cardiologists from the Royal Brompton Hospital, which is situated nearby. There are many other paediatric specialties located at Chelsea and Westminster that are involved with babies’ care on the neonatal unit, including endocrinology, ophthalmology, orthopaedic surgery, plastic surgery, craniofacial surgery and ear nose and throat surgery.

We have a team of community neonatal nurses, who plan for babies going home, and our multi-disciplinary team includes specialist pharmacists, a physiotherapist, speech and language therapist, psychologist, social worker and chaplain.

Research and training are integrated into the day to day work of the neonatal service, coordinated by the Academic Neonatal Centre that is located at Chelsea and Westminster and part of the Imperial College London campus.

You can find further information about how to access the neonatal service in the referrals and contact details sections.