NICU Follow-up Clinic

St. Luke’s NICU Follow-up Clinic provides services to more than 125 children each year, most of whom are “graduates” of our Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

About St. Luke’s NICU Follow-up Clinic
Children born prematurely may be at risk for problems with their development and learning. These problems, when discovered early, are treatable and often have a less severe impact. Because of that, St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital is committed to identifying problems at the earliest possible time and helping you in finding resources to help your child grow and develop in the best way possible. Follow-up Clinic visits start at four months of age corrected for prematurity. Your child will generally be seen thereafter at one year and two years.

Depending on your child's age, a combination of two or more of the following professionals will see your child: developmental pediatrician, nurse, and occupational therapist. If another professional evaluation is needed, the developmental pediatrician will make that referral for your child.

At the visits the developmental pediatrician, nurse, and occupational therapist will review your child's progress since leaving the NICU by asking questions and doing a physical exam. The visit will take 30 to 45 minutes. You will receive information at the visit about your child's progress, and a written report will be sent to you and your child's doctor.

NICU follow-up visits may include recommendations for additional evaluations by a speech therapist, psychologist, or other specialist. The speech therapist's focus will be on your child's appropriate development of language skills. The psychologist’s focus will be to assist in identifying any learning disabilities or potential school problems. If these evaluations are recommended for your child, the developmental pediatrician will make the referrals.

If your child is referred by a neonatologist, the clinic will contact you to set up an appointment. Clinics are held on Wednesdays.

If you have questions about your clinic appointment, please call the clinic secretary at
208-381-7075.

J.T. Leavell, MD, and Steven Felix, MD
Developmental Pediatricians, NICU Follow-up Clinic