neonatal

American  

[nee-oh-nayt-l] / ˌni oʊˈneɪt l /

adjective

1. of or relating to newborn children.

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neonatal British  

/ ˌniːəʊˈneɪtəl /

adjective

1. of or relating to newborn children, esp in the first week of life and up to four weeks old

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Usage

What does neonatal mean? Neonatal is an adjective used to describe things related to newborn babies and their care. Neonatal is a technical term used in the context of medicine and healthcare. You’re most likely to see it used in terms like neonatal unit, neonatal care, and neonatal nurse, and in the names of certain medical conditions that affect newborns. Its noun form, neonate, is another word for a newborn. Example: My sister is a neonatal nurse who specializes in caring for newborns with certain health problems.

Other Word Forms

• postneonatal
  adjective
• neonatally
  adverb

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Etymology

Origin of neonatal

First recorded in 1900–05; neo- + natal

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Explanation

Neonatal describes the first month of a person's life. The neonatal period is that first month after a baby is born. There are also neonatal disorders that require neonatal care. Like many babies, the word neonatal's parents are from different places — neo comes from Greek and means “new,” and natal comes from the Latin word natus which means “to be born.” Neonatal means newborn. The neonatal stage is the first month of life, when a baby is tiniest and most fragile. Babies born at a hospital who can’t come home right away sometimes stay in a neonatal intensive care unit, where neonatal nurses care for them.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

neonatal

It said a government taskforce into neonatal and maternity care must tackle key issues such as a lack of specialist staff and a rise in C-sections.

From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026

To "really understand what's going on", Sands is calling for the data around neonatal and stillborn deaths to be considered alongside "patient and staff experience".

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

Chaplains perform emergency baptisms in neonatal intensive-care units.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

"This case study highlights the need for continued systematic documentation of rare neonatal mortality events to better understand the cognitive, emotional, and evolutionary significance of post-mortem behavior in large whales," he said.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026

Months after Lee was arrested and charged with capital murder, six additional pathologists examined the body and unanimously concluded that neonatal pneumonia had killed the child—it was a classic stillbirth with very common features.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

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