Care-a-thon dancers commit to staying on their feet for the duration of the marathon in a show of solidarity with the babies receiving life-saving care in UCI’s innovative Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

Each day, thousands of newborn babies are rushed into neonatal intensive care units across the country for life-saving medical care.

1. One out of every 10 babies spend time in the NICU, even those born at full-term, for close monitoring of jaundice, respiratory issues or other health concerns.

2. One in every 8 babies is born prematurely in the U.S. with some babies weighing no more than 16 ounces. The U.S. has one of the worse infant mortality rates among developed nations with 13 deaths every day.

3. One out of every 33 babies is born with one of more than 4,000 known birth defects, ranging from minor to serious, and although many can be treated or cured, they’re the leading cause of death in the first year of life.

Through its innovative, multidisciplinary research and teaching programs, UCI is improving the standard of care at NICUs everywhere while training the nurses and doctors who save the lives of countless babies in crisis – locally, nationally and globally.

• UCI is a Level III NICU, meeting the highly rigorous standards set by the state and delivering some of the nation's best outcomes for babies and mothers.
• UCI's NICU is state-of-the-art facility featuring advanced diagnostic and treatment technologies, including care for babies born with brain injury or respiratory failure.
• UCI's maternal-fetal transport, a specially-designed ambulance for newborns, is the only like service in Orange County and serves patients as far away as Barstow, CA.
• UCI's research has pioneered new pediatric surgery techniques setting a standard for fetal surgery and the correction of birth abnormalities.
• UCI's world-class, comprehensive teaching program encompasses all sub-specialties and includes medical students, fellows, physicians assistants, neonatal nurse practitioners, respiratory therapists, pharmacologists and physical therapists.

UCI Care-a-thon's 6-hour dance marathon acknowledges the battle that newborns - who are too sick or too small to breathe or eat on their own - fight each day in UC Irvine's Neonatal Intensive Care unit.

Important Links

• Learn more about the NICU
• Meet a NICU Nurse
• Meet NICU patients
• Get a glimpse of UCI's FitBaby research project