The Axe and Blaise Wanstrath Neonatal Intensive Care Unit gives vulnerable newborns and families a strong start
When Maddie and her husband, David, learned in 2023 that they were expecting their first child, they were thrilled.
Because the pregnancy would bring unique risks for Maddie, who has type 1 diabetes, they knew Stanford was the best place for their care. The team monitored Maddie closely to keep both mother and baby healthy. At 20 weeks into her pregnancy, the couple received scary news—their baby had a congenital heart defect. Maddie later developed severe migraines and preeclampsia—a pregnancy complication characterized by high blood pressure—and was hospitalized at 33 weeks. A week later, baby Leo was born via C-section and whisked to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
The NICU at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford cares for fragile babies facing respiratory, cardiac, and neurological complications. Some stay for just a few days, others for weeks or months. The care they receive at this critical stage can shape their entire lifetime.
When Leo arrived in our NICU in 2023, it was an open-bay unit with multiple babies and families receiving care in the same room. When Maddie and David visited Leo for the first time in the NICU, they knew he was receiving excellent medical care. However, that special first moment of meeting their child was overwhelming with the sights and sounds of multiple families all navigating their own fragile experiences.
Enhancing Care and Comfort
Starting this spring, Packard Children’s Hospitalʼs smallest patients and their families will have an entirely different experience. Our hospital recently opened the Axe and Blaise Wanstrath Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, designed to enhance the care and comfort of newborns and their families.
“This new patient unit is evidence of our unwavering commitment to family-centered care, ensuring that every mother and newborn experience the highest-quality start to life,” says Paul A. King, CEO of Packard Children’s Hospital and Stanford Medicine Children’s Health.
The new NICU features 12 private patient rooms and two semiprivate rooms for twins or multiples. A complete transformation from the previous open-bay NICU, the new rooms provide a quieter, less stressful environment for recovery and development. Private rooms also reduce infection risk, shorten hospital stays, and improve parental involvement, according to research. Parents can stay overnight in their child’s room, and medical teams have the space they need to provide leading-edge procedures on the spot.
“These new rooms are designed to offer a serene, nurturing atmosphere for newborns and their others, especially for our littlest newborns,” says Lawrence Prince, MD, PhD, chief of the Division of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine. “The updated unit has adapted our protocols to meet these fragile babies’ unique medical and developmental needs and support their families at every step of their health care journey.”
Leo spent six weeks in our hospital, where he underwent surgery to repair his heart. Today, he is a sweet, curious toddler who loves watching his mom cook, eating broccoli and pasta, and crawling over the family’s two dogs.
Whether flipping through books or reveling in his new skills—walking everywhere and opening doors—he’s doing it all with joy and enthusiasm.
Reflecting on their time in the NICU, Maddie is grateful for the outstanding care Leo received. Since she and David live within a few miles of the hospital, they were able to go home each night. But her heart went out to the families who endured long stays and stressful experiences away from home. The memories she cherishes most from the hospital are the quiet moments: breastfeeding Leo for the first time, giving him his first bath, and introducing him to an outdoor garden. Despite his complex medical needs, Maddie wanted to focus on becoming a family first.
Powered by Philanthropy
Thanks to our philanthropic community, families will have easier access to both world-class care and family-friendly amenities. Our hospital is reimagining its West building for the care of mothers and babies—a transformative project launched several years ago with generous support from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Nina and Chris Wanstrath made the lead gift to create the Axe and Blaise
Wanstrath NICU, the first completed space in this project. Together, dozens of donors—including Kate and Eric Dachs, Cathy and Brad Geier, Cindy and Evan Goldberg, and Laurel Lagenaur, whose families all had NICU experiences—made gifts of all levels to make this NICU a reality.
Adjacent to the unit is a new Infant Nutrition Lab, where human milk is prepared and fortified to meet each baby’s unique nutritional needs. Nearby, the Brad and Cathy Geier Terrace allows parents to enjoy a breath of fresh air while staying close to their infant, and the Family Cove provides a sunlit space for families to gather.
“We feel incredibly proud to have this NICU in our backyard and in our community,” says lead donor Nina Wanstrath. “From the beginning, babies will receive the highest standard of care and families will get to feel like a family.”
Transforming the Future
Since it opened in 1991, our hospital has been one of the only children’s hospitals in the nation to care for mothers and babies together under one roof—part of our founder Lucile Packard’s vision. Today, our hospital is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as both a “high performing” hospital for maternity care and a top 5 children’s hospital for neonatology.
Each year, over 4,800 babies are born at Packard Children’s, and over 1,400 babies receive care in the NICU. Our hospital excels in caring for mothers facing complex pregnancies, while also serving as an essential safety net provider for the community. More broadly, we lead groundbreaking research in maternal-fetal medicine, prematurity, and newborn complications to improve outcomes for mothers and babies everywhere. This summer, the hospital will open the new Dunlevie Maternity Unit. In the years ahead, the hospital will upgrade labor and delivery rooms and more maternity rooms, transform three additional NICUs, and make upgrades throughout the building to enhance the patient journey.
“The opening of this NICU is just the beginning,” says Prince. “With our donor community behind us, we’re transforming care for mothers and babies in our community and beyond.”
Expanded Specialty Services and Infusion Center
Also in the West building, the Bass Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Diseases is opening its new Specialty Services and Infusion Center. With 15 private infusion rooms and 12 large exam rooms, the facility expands capacity for children needing outpatient treatments such as blood transfusions and chemotherapy.
The new space welcomes patient families with a bright and easy-to-navigate reception desk and a larger, more comfortable waiting area. In addition to a general waiting room and one for stem cell patients, a new isolation holding space for potentially infectious individuals will ensure the safety of patients who are immunocompromised.