​Neonatology

Become acquainted with our operation:

Our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit admits preterm infants and newborns from the whole of the Southwest of Finland with a variety of complex medical and surgical problems. We also admit babies who need intensive care from Satakunta Hospital District, Vaasa Hospital district, and from the province of Aland.

Post discharge we continue to monitor your baby’s growth and development in our preterm infant follow-up clinic.

Our breast milk bank delivers donor breast milk to NICU and to the postnatal wards. In addition, the breast milk bank provides donor breast milk and delivers formula milk to all children under the age of one year to the paediatric wards in the hospital.

Meet our doctors

​	​Liisa Lehtonen MD, professor, paediatrician, neonatology, head of department, head of section, Tyks, Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine Professor of paediatrics, University of Turku Special qualifications in: The treatment and development of treatment of premature infants, enhancing the prognosis of premature infants, family-centred treatment, cost-efficient treatment Publication areas: The treatment and prognosis of premature infants, family-centred treatment, organising premature infant treatment, colic babies, the sleep and behaviour of babies
​	​Kalle Korhonen MD, paediatrician, neonatologist Special qualifications in: Resuscitation and initial treatment of infants, rooming in, simulation education Publication areas: Pulmonary diseases of infants
​	Helena Lapinleimu MD, docent, paediatrician, neonatologist, clinical educator Special qualifications in: Premature infant follow-up, neonatal intensive care, the health of children adopted from abroad Publication areas: the nutrition, growth and prevention of cardiac diseases of small children, premature infant growth, follow-up and brain imaging, the health and welfare of adopted children
​	​Samuli Rautava MD, docent, paediatrician, neonatologist, Junor Group Leader, Turku Collegium for Science and Medicine, clinical educator, paediatrics (on leave of absence), University of Turku Special qualifications in: The nutrition of infants, breast feeding, probiotics Publication areas: The effect on health of early micro-organism contact, probiotics, early prevention of allergies and infections, the protective effects of breast feeding
​	Hanna Soukka MD, docent, paediatrician, neonatologist, simulation director Special qualifications in: pulmonary development and breathing physiology, resuscitation of infants, simulation education Publication areas: pulmonary development of infants and foetuses

Heads of nursing staff

Research and education

Our NICU team has conducted research on to how to develop the best care for prematurely born babies for a very long time. We now have evidence and knowledge of many factors not purely based on medical treatment, which influence the neurodevelopmental outcomes for babies. Our Close Collaboration with Parents program is founded on this evidence.

On the following page, we present some of our research.

We have demonstrated that parents’ presence in the NICU helps sick or preterm newborns to recover faster. It also aids the early parent-infant relationship and the baby’s later development. The early parent-infant relationship is a distinctive developmental stage and requires closeness between the parent and their baby. Parental care and an emerging relationship with their baby are crucial for its development. Our NICU care culture supports parents’ presence and participation in decision making, and provides plenty of opportunities for skin to skin contact (‘kangaroo care’).

The Close Collaboration with Parents (CC) Training Program- at its core- teaches all the above principles. Twelve other NICU’s around Europe have adopted it, and it has included staff from labour wards, postnatal and maternity wards. Our CC research has shown positive results in NICU’s that practice our program. Parents spent more time with their baby and doing more ‘kangaroo care’.. Depression among mothers decreased. Our goal is to expand and develop our program and continue our research. We need to gain more knowledge about how to improve the care and outcome for our babies and families.

SCENE (International Closeness Survey) is an international research study that aims to find out why parent –infant physical and emotional closeness varies between different neonatal units. Twenty-five NICU’s from 15 different countries take part, recruiting babies born before the gestational age of 35 weeks. The main goal of the study is to try to identify common concepts and constructs that can be adapted into Family integrated Care programs around the world to support emotional parent –infant closeness.

The LENA research study wants to find out what effect parents’ speaking to their baby has on speech development. LENA is conducted in collaborations between Turku University Hospital and Tallinn Children’s Hospital.