The Developmental Assessment Clinic (DAC) provides interdisciplinary screening for infants who have been discharged from the Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (RNICU) and meet the criteria for follow-up, and for infants referred by Mid-Michigan physicians.
Criteria for follow up in DAC include:
- Very low birth weight (less than or equal to 1500 grams)
- Ventilator (greater than 7 days)
- Asphyxia
- Seizures
- Intraventricular hemorrhage
- Microcephaly
- Sepsis or documented infection
- Persistent hypoglycemia
- Poor uterine growth
- Bilirubin (greater than or equal to 20 or need of exchange transfusion)
- Major congenital defect
- Developmental delays
A visit to the clinic involves the child and parent(s) interacting with professionals from the following disciplines: neonatology, psychology, audiology, nursing and physical or occupational therapy. The DAC is not a treatment center. Emphasis is on screening and detecting physical and psychological delay. All results are reported to parents and the primary care physician. When a problem is defined, the infant or child is referred to community services for intervention/treatment.
The DAC follows NICU graduates through the first three years of life. They are seen at six months, 15 months, two years and three years of age. Data collected by the DAC supports other research findings that approximately 88-92% of referred risk infants will achieve normal growth and developmental.