NICU admissions: TGH doctors explain rise in newborn care cases
NICU admissions surge at Tampa General Hospital
There's been a reported increase in NICU admissions across the country, and doctors in the Bay Are have noticed that trend too. FOX 13's Ariel Plasencia reports.
TAMPA, Fla. - Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admissions have risen across the country — and Tampa General Hospital (TGH) has noticed the trend, too.
Rising NICU admissions
By the numbers:
According to the CDC, the percentage of infants admitted to the NICU in the United States rose from 8.7% in 2016 to 9.8% in 2023. Data from TGH shows the hospital had fewer than 1,000 NICU admissions in 2016.
But by 2023, that number grew to over 2,400.
While NICU doctors care for babies born early or with low birth weights, the bulk of their admissions are infants facing unexpected challenges at birth, according to TGH.
"Majority of the admissions is actually in late pre-term and term and post-term infants with unexpected complications — like respiratory distress or genetic conditions and birth defects. So those are about 80 to 90% of our admissions," said USF neonatologist Dr. Tina Ho with TGH’s Jennifer Leigh Muma Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Factors driving infant hospitalizations
Dig deeper:
While TGH doctors emphasize that most NICU admissions are not preventable, they point to several factors contributing to the rising rates.
One reason is that women are having children later in life, and babies born to mothers over 40 face a higher risk of NICU admission. According to the CDC, infants born to mothers age 40 and older were more likely than infants to mothers of all other age groups to be admitted to a NICU in both 2016 and 2023.
"Secondly, we're also seeing a significant increase in babies that are born with history of exposure to substances during pregnancy," Ho explained, citing alcohol and drugs as examples.
Additionally, as technology improves, early screenings are catching genetic conditions and birth defects sooner — which can result in more babies to the NICU at Muma Children’s Hospital at TGH, because the TGH and USF Health Fetal Care Center get regional referrals to handle high-risk and complex pregnancies.
"And the number of referrals increased significantly from 2016, from 150 cases to 300 cases," Ho said. "And then that also increased the number of babies admitted to the NICU as well."
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from data from Tampa General Hospital, as well as an interview with neonatologist Dr. Tina Ho, who discussed the factors driving the rising newborn admission rates. Additional stats were taken from the CDC.