Neonatal Transports

Neonatal Transports

The Neonatal Transport Service provides inter-facility ground transportation of newborns 24 hours a day, seven days per week within the Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut region. The majority of neonatal transports involve infants born at community hospitals who require treatment in a Level IV neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). 

Women & Infants Hospital provides the highest levels of care for newborns, including:

  • Pediatric surgery and other subspecialty support
  • ECMO (at Hasbro Children’s Hospital PICU)
  • Hypothermia for encephalopathy
  • State-of-the-art neonatal care in our 80-bed, single family room NICU
Contact Information:

Department of Pediatrics
101 Dudley Street
Providence, RI 02905
P: (401) 274-1100

No Show Policy
We have a policy for missed appointments at all Women and Infants Hospital's physician practices. If you need to reschedule or cancel an appointment, please give us at least 24 hours notice.

The Goals of the Service

The goals of the transport service are to provide efficient, timely responses; essential stabilizing procedures and treatments; and safe, effective ground transport with continuous assessment and monitoring to improve survival and reduce the chance of complications. Many of these treatments, including hypothermia and phototherapy, can be started while on transport.

The neonatal transport team consists of a highly specialized, skilled team of critical care physicians and/or nurse practitioners, nurses and respiratory therapists who are all proficient in initiating or continuing the care and stabilization of sick newborns.

We foster a team approach and work closely with our medical director and medical control physicians while in the field to ensure the best possible care of our patients during the transport process, using a combination of approved protocols and guidelines as well as telephonic medical control. We maintain ongoing relationships with all of our regional community referral hospitals, and many of our community nurseries are staffed by Women & Infants’ providers.

What to Expect

Upon the team’s arrival, your infant will be assessed and the transport physician or neonatal nurse practitioner will discuss the plan of care with you and obtain consent for transport after stabilizing your infant. Your baby will be placed in a special transport bed and attached to monitors that will allow for constant assessment of his/her temperature, heart rate and breathing throughout the travel back to Women & Infants Hospital. You will be able to see your infant prior to their departure.

Once your baby has arrived at Women & Infants and has been settled into a room, a member of the transport team will call you and provide an update. Our families are at the center of all we do and are part of our team approach as we strive to provide sensitive and caring support during this very stressful time. The single-family room model that the Women & Infants NICU offers encourages families to be actively involved in their baby’s care by allowing a parent to stay at their infant’s bedside throughout their stay.

Our transport service will keep in touch with your home hospital and your pediatrician if you have selected one. Occasionally, if the referring hospital has the capacity and your baby no longer requires intensive care services, our transport team will offer to retro-transfer your baby closer to home to complete his/her hospital stay.

Contacts

Mara G. Coyle, MD

Medical Director
mcoyle@wihri.org
(401) 274-1122 x 47437

Maggie Slader, BSN, RN

Transport Coordinator
mslader@wihri.org
(401) 274-1122 x 47478