The Albert Katz Department of Neonatology of the Sheba Medical Center is one of the largest neonatal centers in the State of Israel with facilities to treat premature infants, provide intermediate care, as well as a new and modern intensive care unit for full term infants with major congenital malformations.

Intensive Care Unit

The Intensive Care Unit includes 12 hospitalization stations, advanced monitoring equipments, and 12 stations with respirators and the possibility of non-conventional ventilation and respirators requiring Nitric Oxide Inhalation. 

The population treated in the unit includes tiny premature babies born in the 23-25 week of gestation.  The smallest premature infant who was treated within the unit weighed 415 grams at birth, and today is growing and developing well.  Another typical group treated in the unit includes newborns who are not premature and who have normal weights but suffer from birth defects or from diseases necessitating intensive care.

Treatment of Premature Infants

Premature babies whose conditions have stabilized are transferred from the intensive care unit to one of three additional rooms situated in the department.  The care in these rooms includes mainly nourishment building, increasing weight, monitoring of breathing, and preparation for discharge.  The parents are welcome to visit during all hours of the day.  However, there are some restrictions regarding other family members.

The Intermediate Care Unit

The intermediate care unit is intended for growing, healthy premature infants at the last stage prior to discharge to their homes.  The unit also services newborns requiring active care and monitoring more than provided in the newborn unit. These newborns include babies born to diabetic mothers, those with an excess amount of blood, those with mild difficulties in breathing, babies born after difficult births, and other conditions.  These infants need additional support before they leave the unit for nursing by their mothers.  The parents are welcome to visit during all hours of the day.  Visiting is restricted for additional family members. 

All newborns are destined to spend their first hours in the intermediate care unit.  These hours represent a transition period from fetal life to newborn life outside the womb.  This type of sub-unit framework allows for the monitoring of babies classified as high risk, including those whose birth weights are below 2 kilograms or above 4 kilograms, babies with meconial amniotic fluid, those with low Apgar scores, those whose mothers are diabetics, and others.  All newborns undergo a physical examination before being transferred to the newborn nursery or before leaving for nursing in the maternity ward is permitted.

Newborn Unit

Newborns arrive at the unit after having undergone initial examinations and monitoring of body temperature at the time of admission to the intermediate care unit. During their stay in the unit, the newborns are immunized against Hepatitis B, and receive an injection of Vitamin K for the prevention of newborn bleeding, a life threatening disease.

The Sheba Medical Center is the only place in Israel performing hearing tests on all newborns. Research in this area has proved that in order to achieve a significant improvement in the speech and hearing of children who have disabilities, the problem should be identified before the child reaches the age of 3 months.  The majority of newborns in whom possible disabilities are detected does not have a genuine hearing problem, and during the course of follow-up are found to be completely healthy. A very small proportion of these babies suffer from a real disability and much effort is invested in their detection. 

Babies born by Caesarian Section undergo examination by a physician during the second or third day of their lives and then are discharged to their homes. 

At the time of discharge, all newborns undergo a discharge examination by senior physicians. At the discharge visit, the level of jaundice is checked, and the amount of red blood cells in the blood count is determined. In addition, blood tests for PKU and thyroid gland function are performed in order to detect these diseases as early as possible and thereby prevent possible brain damage.  All of the male newborns also undergo a test for G6PD (sensitivity to a variety of medications). 

In the delivery room, the parents are given an information sheet explaining the main activities carried out in the newborn unit.  The parents have the right to refuse treatment, and their request is always honored.  When one of these activities is not performed, this information is reported as a note on the immunization card, so the medical staff at the family health clinic is updated.  All of the activities mentioned are accepted as routine practice in all Western countries. 

The "Sheba Baby" Hotel   

The "Sheba Baby" hotel was recently opened in the same building as the maternity ward.  Accommodations are available at the hotel for a fee.  Babies can either stay with their parents (the "rooming in" approach), in the newborn nursery, or intermittently in both places, in accordance with the choice of the parents.

The newborns in this unit are at least 12 hours old, and they undergo an additional physical examination prior to their transfer to this unit. Only babies who are completely healthy can be transferred to the hotel.

Routine treatment given in the framework of the hotel is identical to the routine care provided in the newborn unit.

Research Projects

We are actively involved in neonatal clinical and basic research.  We are actively engaged in computerizing the entire neonatology wing.  This project includes, among other things, computerization of hospitalization charts to facilitate greater follow-up of what is being done in the different units.  We are also involved in a study aimed at detecting babies suffering from infections not requiring antibiotic treatment.  An additional project is planned to bring the department into the modern world of MRI and MRS examinations for babies with suspected neurological problems.

Department at a Glance
Number of Patients per Year - 10000 Newborn Infants Annually. 2500 Outpatients
Number of Beds - 70 Beds in the Unit for Healthy Newborns 24 Beds for Healthy Newborns in the “Sheba Baby” Hotel 20 Beds in the Newborn Intermediate Care Unit 50 Positions for the Premature Infants, 12 of which are for Intensive Care of Newborns.
Director - Prof. Jacob Kuint Prof. Kuint,  completed his medical studies at the Sackler School of Medicine in 1978. He studied Neonatal Medicine at McMaster University Medical Center in Ontario (1986-88) and Perinatal Neurology at the Hammersmith Medical Center London (1990). He has been the director of the neonatal department at Sheba since 1993.  He is a lecturer at the Sackler School of Medicine at the Tel Aviv University
Address - The Joseph Buchman Gynecology and Maternity Center
E-mail - Jacob.Kuint@sheba.health.gov.il
Tel - 972-3-530-2227