Special babies may have to spend time in a hospital and their stay could be long.

If your baby has major needs, he/she may be admitted to a children's hospital.  This type of hospital has health care specialists and advanced equipment to deal with the complex conditions that your baby may have.

If you live in a community with a children's hospital, you should choose a pediatrician or primary care doctor who admits patients to that hospital.  Then your doctor can admit your baby when needed and communicate with the many specialists who will work with your baby.

You should also contact the hospital about such services as:

• parents staying overnight
• parking rates and passes
• visiting hours
• brother or sister visits
• lodging for parents from out of town
  eg., special rates at hotels.

If you do not live near a children's hospital, your baby may be admitted to your local hospital pediatric ward/unit or children's ward/unit if there is one.  Find out if your hospital has these facilities and if not, find out where the nearest hospital is with pediatric or children's facilities.

Contact the person in charge of the children's ward before your baby needs to be admitted.  The staff will then be aware of your baby's needs and you will be aware of how the hospital does things and what you can do if your baby is admitted.

Your baby may need emergency visits to a hospital.  You will want to know where babies go for emergency care in your community.  Some hospitals will see your baby to assess what he/she needs and then send him/her to another hospital for specific treatment.

Contact the emergency staff in your hospital and see what they do with babies.  Tell them about your baby and his/her special needs.  They will advise you on how and where your baby may be treated if you need emergency care.  Find out if it is better for you to call an ambulance or better for you to bring your baby.  Not all areas have the 911 emergency service available so be sure to know if yours does or what number you must call.

Ask about the ambulance services for your area.  Some ambulance services are equipped with special people and equipment and some are not.  The emergency staff will know what is available.

If your baby needs emergency care because he/she develops a serious problem or illness, you will know where to take him/her and how to get there.

Some parents suggest having current information about your baby kept in the hospital's Emergency Room.  It will be available for emergency visits in the future when the special information about your baby is needed immediately.

If you do have an emergency, be ready to take the information about your baby's condition with you.  This may help the emergency staff make the right decisions for your baby.  For example, a baby with a chronic lung disease such as "Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia" will have different blood gas test results than a baby without this condition.  Health professionals assess ill people by comparing certain body measurements with a "normal" or "average" measurement.  What is normal for special babies may be very different than other babies the same age.  Health professionals need to know this so they do not assume something may be wrong when it is not.

Be ready to tell the emergency staff what your baby is usually or normally like:

• normal body measurements
• how fast does his/her heart beat
• how many breaths per minute are normals
• does he/she always arch his/her back
• is this cry what he/she usually sounds like?

If your baby is on medications, take a list of them with you and if possible, take the medications with you too.  Then they can be available for your baby during the visit to the hospital.  Never give the medication to your baby in an emergency until you check with the health professionals first.  It may be dangerous to give the usual medications to a very ill baby and it may be dangerous not to give them.  In this situation, you need the health professionals to guide you.