“Our NICU is a big plus
for parents here at Floyd. ”
OUTLOOK | APRIL 2020 49
Floyd Neonatologist Cares for
Tiniest Patients
From Floyd Medical Center
On any given day, you are likely to see Dr. Bridgette Dingle
intently listening to a baby’s heartbeat or gently holding
one of Floyd’s tiniest patients in the hospital’s Neonatal
Intensive Care Unit.
Dr. Dingle has been a neonatologist at Floyd since 2012.
She said she can’t imagine doing anything else now, but
caring for tiny babies wasn’t always where she thought she
was headed.
“I remember one day, when I was doing an obstetrics
rotation in medical school, and there was a sick baby. I
went right to that baby immediately. That’s when I really
knew what I wanted to do,” Dr. Dingle said. She decided
then to focus on neonatology.
Providing care for sick or underweight babies can be
stressful, she said. But having a child in the NICU is harder
on parents. “Sometime neonatologists are the doctors no
one wants to think about, and certainly, parents never
want to have to see one,” Dr. Dingle said. “But when they
have a sick baby, they are glad we are here.”
When asked what she likes the most about her job, she
didn’t hesitate. “When we treat a sick baby, who might be
in the NICU for weeks or even months, it’s really gratifying
to tell the parents they get to take their child home. That’s a
wonderful moment when a mom or dad leaves holding their
baby.”
Floyd began delivering babies in 1942 when the hospital first
opened. Since then, more than 150,000 babies have been born
at Floyd Medical Center.
The NICU is a Level III facility and provides sustained life
support and comprehensive care for infants born at any
gestational age, birth weight or illness.
“Our NICU is a big plus for parents here at Floyd,” Dingle
said. “It means mom and baby can stay here to get the care
they need.”
Visit www.floyd.org to learn more about our NICU and
childbirth services.
/www.floyd.org