NICU resources · Nampa
NICU in Nampa, Idaho
Nampa is unusual: it has two NICUs, one run by each of the Treasure Valley’s health systems. Both are Level II units, and each is tied to its own system’s higher-level NICU in Boise.
Here is how each one describes itself, and the Canyon County help that applies to Nampa families.
Hospitals
Nampa’s two NICUs
St. Luke’s says the same providers who staff its Boise NICU are on site or on call at its Nampa NICU. Saint Alphonsus says its Nampa team, at the Birkeland Maternity Center, works closely with Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, where the same neonatology team provides support.
St. Luke’s Nampa Medical Center
9850 W. St. Luke’s Dr., Nampa, ID 83687
Babies can be transported back closer to home after care in Boise.
Saint Alphonsus Medical Center – Nampa (Birkeland Maternity Center)
4402 E. Flamingo Ave., Nampa, ID 83687
Babies who need a higher level of care are transferred to Saint Alphonsus in Boise.
If your baby needs more care: Boise
Each system sends babies who need a higher level of care to its own Boise NICU. St. Luke’s also describes bringing babies back to Nampa as they improve, closer to home.
St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital
190 E. Bannock St., Boise, ID 83712
Described by St. Luke’s as Idaho’s largest NICU, with board-certified neonatologists on site 24/7.
Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center
1055 N. Curtis Rd., Boise, ID 83706
Lists family areas, sibling play areas, overnight transition rooms, and lactation consultants.
Levels shown exactly as each hospital lists them on its own website (St. Luke’s uses Arabic numerals, Saint Alphonsus uses Roman numerals). Checked October 2026 — call the hospital to confirm current details.
Levels of care
Which NICU level handles what
St. Luke’s writes “Level 2” and Saint Alphonsus writes “Level II” — it is the same level. These NICUs care for babies whose needs are moderate or expected to resolve fairly quickly; St. Luke’s says its Level 2 units care for infants who are 8 weeks premature or less.
A baby who needs ongoing life support or surgical specialists goes to Boise, to a Level III or Level 4 NICU. Which Boise hospital usually depends on which system your Nampa hospital belongs to.
NICU levels of care, explainedLocal support
Support for NICU families in Nampa
St. Luke’s Nampa NICU parent support
St. Luke’s lists a parent support and advocacy line for its Nampa NICU, plus care coordination, social work, and spiritual care.
WIC in Nampa (Southwest District Health)
Southwest District Health runs WIC for Canyon County. It lists a Nampa WIC site at the Idaho Hispanic Community Center (closed the first and third Wednesday of each month) and a full-service clinic in Caldwell, all reached through its main line.
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Idaho
If your baby is transferred to a Boise hospital, the Ronald McDonald House at 139 E. Warm Springs Ave. hosts families who live outside Ada County, with a referral from a social worker or medical provider. The suggested donation is $10 a night, and no family is turned away for inability to pay.
Idaho Infant Toddler Program
Idaho’s early intervention program for children from birth to age 3 with a significant developmental delay, or a condition likely to cause one. Parents can make a referral by phone, email, or online form.
Hand to Hold
Free national peer support that matches NICU parents with trained mentors who have been there — by text, call, or video.
Helping Hands for NICU Moms is not affiliated with these organizations. Details were checked against each organization’s website in October 2026 — please confirm directly, as programs change. More resources are on our NICU resources page.
Questions
Nampa NICU questions
Why does Nampa have two NICUs?
What happens if my baby needs more care than a Nampa NICU provides?
Where do Nampa families apply for WIC?
If my baby is moved to Boise, can we stay at the Ronald McDonald House?
Helping Hands
How we help NICU moms in Nampa
When we picture a NICU mom in Nampa, we think of the moms who are close to home but still can’t take their baby home — and the moms who just watched their baby get transferred to Boise.
Every spring we fill care baskets with comfort items, essentials, and encouragement and deliver them to NICU moms in local Treasure Valley hospitals for Mother’s Day.
75
care baskets is our goal for Mother’s Day 2027.
Guides
Guides for NICU families
What to expect in the NICU
Your baby was just admitted to the NICU. What the room, the monitors, the care team, and the daily routine look like — and how parents can be part of their baby’s care.
Read the guideQuestions to ask the NICU team
A printable list of questions NICU parents can bring to rounds — about your baby’s care plan, feeding, tests, your role, and getting ready for discharge.
Read the guidePumping for a NICU baby
How to start and keep up your milk supply when your baby is in the NICU — when to start pumping, how often, labeling and storage, and where Idaho moms can find support.
Read the guideHow to help a friend in the NICU
Specific, practical ways to support a family whose baby is in the NICU — from meals and rides to what to say — with Boise-area resources to share.
Read the guideNICU care package ideas
A practical list of comfort items, essentials, and baby items that NICU moms actually use — drawn from the care baskets we build every year in the Treasure Valley.
Read the guideSources (checked October 2026): St. Luke’s — Newborn Intensive Care; Saint Alphonsus — NICU; Southwest District Health — Contact & WIC sites.
Every basket tells a mom she is not alone.
Your gift helps fill care baskets with comfort items, essentials, and encouragement for local NICU moms.