Neonatal Pulmonary Care Program

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UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland is one of California’s leading providers of neonatal pulmonary care and treatment. When a child is born with a congenital lung disorder or undergoes respiratory distress, time is one of the few things you have on your side. That’s why we have staff members and pulmonary specialists onsite 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Between our neonatal specialists and our nationally-recognized ECMO program, we offer a great chance for your child’s future—and that’s something we don’t take lightly.

Why Families Choose Us

Leading Neonatal Pulmonary Support in California

• Children’s Hospital Oakland is a national leader in the field of neonatal respiratory care, with extensive expertise in high frequency oscillatory and jet ventilation, inhaled nitric oxide, and noninvasive ventilation.
• Our ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) program draws on over 20 years of experience in neonatal, pediatric, and cardiac support. We're one of only four hospitals in California that offers this life-saving service.

Extensive Pulmonary Services When You Need Them

• Pulmonary disorders treated at Children’s Hospital Oakland draw from the combined expertise of our board-certified neonatologists, pediatric surgeons, perfusionists, ECMO nurse specialists, cardiologists, and pediatric emergency transport specialists.
• We also provide follow-up care to ensure that your child continues to thrive and develop long after his or her hospital stay has ended.

ECMO Facilities Serving the Bay Area and Beyond

• ECMO is a heart-lung bypass system that takes over the circulatory and respiratory functions in infants who cannot handle these processes on their own. By taking over the flow of blood and oxygen to the other organs of the body, your child gains a chance to recover strength in the heart and lungs.
• Premies born before week 34 may be eligible for ECMO to help reduce the risk of complications, especially if pulmonary hypertension is evident.
• We also provide ECMO support for neonatal respiratory distress syndrome, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, neonatal meconium aspiration syndrome, pulmonary hypertension, severe pneumonia, and respiratory failure.
• Although ECMO is considered a treatment to be undertaken only when absolutely necessary, it can increase your child's chances of survival by up to 80 percent.