Neonatology

Neonatology is a subspecialty of pediatrics that consists of the medical care of newborn infants, especially the ill or premature newborn. It is a hospital-based specialty, and is usually practice in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). The principal patients of neonatologists are newborn infants who are ill or require special medical care due to prematurity, low birth weight, intrauterine growth restriction, congenital malformations (birth defects), sepsis, pulmonary hypoplasia, or birth asphyxia.

Training
In the United States, a neonatologist is a physician practicing neonatology. To become a neonatologist, the physician initially receives training as a pediatrician, then completes a fellowship for three years in neonatology. Most, but not all, neonatologists are board certified in the specialty of Pediatrics by the American Board of Pediatrics or the American Osteopathic Board of Pediatrics and in the subspecialty of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine.

Neonatal Nurse Practitioners (NNPs) are advanced practice nurses that specialize in neonatal care. They are considered mid-level providers and often share the workload of NICU care with resident physicians. They are able to treat, plan, prescribe, diagnose, and perform procedures within their scope of practice, defined by governing law and the hospital where they work.

Spectrum of care
Rather than focusing on a particular organ system, neonatologists focus on the care of newborns who require Intensive Care Unit hospitalization. They may also act as general pediatricians, providing well newborn evaluation and care in the hospital where they are based. Some neonatologists, particularly those in academic settings, may follow infants for months or even years after hospital discharge to better assess the long-term effects of health problems early in life. Some neonatologists perform clinical and basic science research to further the understanding of this special population of patients.

Diseases of concern during the neonatal period include:
 * Neonatal jaundice (hyperbilirubinemia)
 * Infant respiratory distress syndrome (surfactant deficiency syndrome)
 * Neonatal lupus erythematosus
 * Neonatal conjunctivitis
 * Neonatal tetanus
 * Vertically transmitted infection
 * Neonatal sepsis
 * Neonatal bowel obstruction
 * Benign neonatal seizures
 * Neonatal acne
 * Neonatal stroke
 * Neonatal diabetes mellitus
 * Neonatal allioimmune thrombocytopenia
 * Neonatal herpes simplex
 * Neonatal hemochromatosis
 * Neonatal meningitis
 * Neonatal hepatitis
 * Neonatal hypoglycemia
 * Neonatal adrenoleukodystrophy
 * Neonatal isoerythrolysis
 * Diffuse neonatal hemangiomatosis
 * Benign neonatal hemangiomatosis
 * Neonatal cholestasis
 * Transient neonatal pustular melanosis
 * Perinatal asphyxia
 * Neonatal ichthyosis-sclerosing cholangitis syndrome
 * Neonatal toxic shock-like exanthematous disease