Everyone knows how big hospitals can be. No matter what ailment might be plaguing you or a family member, there's definitely a specialized area in a local hospital to go to for treatment. Some of these areas, like the emergency department or the operating room, are common knowledge to just about everyone. However, there are other areas, such as the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) that most people have never even heard of let alone have visited. The NICU is certainly one of the most incredible places in the hospital, and the work that the practitioners there carry out can sometimes seem like the stuff of miracles.

So, what is the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit? The word "neonatal" refers to newborn babies, and this is really the only part of the phrase that throws people for a loop. Just about everyone knows what an intensive care unit is. The NICU is a unit in some hospitals that treats premature and very sick babies using quite sophisticated and advanced treatment plans. Basically, if a baby is born and needs a little extra help, they go to the NICU to receive that life-saving treatment.

It's not really a surprise that this unit is unintentionally a bit of a secret at hospitals. Only about one in every eight babies ends up needing to go to the NICU, and usually, these newborns have a very short stay. The NICU also isn't really glamorized on medical dramas all too often, which is where many people come to learn about how the world of healthcare works. Just about everyone who knows about the NICU has heard of this place because someone familiar to them needed to spend time there.

Many people don't realize how many things can go wrong in a pregnancy until it actually happens. Major problems can come up; babies can be born premature, can be born with a birth defect, and can sometimes be born with an infection of some kind. All of these things, among others, can prove deadly to newborns. It's up to the nurses, doctors, and nurse practitioners in the NICU to give these babies a chance at life. These healthcare professionals do some pretty incredible things, and are responsible for giving life to little people who would have never had a shot at the long life that they have yet to live.

A normal pregnancy takes 40 weeks to reach term. In the NICU, it's not uncommon for babies to be admitted that have only been in utero for 24 weeks and survive. Yes, you read that correctly; survival even after being born four months too early. Now, think back to how heavy you weighed when you were born. Were you really chubby and weighed maybe ten pounds? Were you skinny and weighed six or so pounds? Somewhere in between? Well, some babies sent home with their families from the NICU were born at two pounds or less. That's pretty tough to imagine until you see it for yourself, but that is TINY.

That's what a baby weighing a pound and half looks like. And babies like this survive all of the time in the NICU! These newborns aren't always just little; babies can sometimes be born with problems like holes in their hearts, organs being outside of their bodies, or with other complicated defects, and many of them go on to survive from these issues with the NICU's help. It's heartbreaking when they do not survive, but this is what makes the NICU practitioners truly incredible. They work their hardest, pouring their hearts and souls into every baby, trying to give every single baby a chance even when the future is completely unknown.

House, M.D., Grey's Anatomy, and other medical dramas might be pretty cool, but I don't think there's anything on TV that even compares to the incredible world of the NICU.

If you or a family member ever has a baby that needs to spend time in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, there's no doubt that this will be a very scary experience. However, you can rest assured knowing that NICU healthcare providers are brilliant at what they do. The image of a newborn baby in a NICU incubator with a plethora of wires and tube surrounding him or her might give the family scare, but all of this is life-saving and very necessary. In no time at all, most NICU babies will be sent home after receiving their extraordinary care, and will grow up living a happy, healthy life.