• neonatal intensive care
  A diaphragmatic hernia is a life-threatening illness and requires care in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Babies with diaphragmatic hernia are often unable to breathe effectively on their own because their lungs are underdeveloped. Most babies will need to be placed on a breathing machine called a mechanical ventilator to help their breathing.

 

• ECMO 
• http://www.ich.ucl.ac.uk/factsheets/families/F030174/index.html
  Some infants may need to be placed on a temporary heart/lung bypass machine called ECMO if they have severe problems. ECMO does the job that the heart and lungs would be doing: putting oxygen in the bloodstream and pumping blood to the body. ECMO may be used temporarily while a baby's condition stabilizes and improves. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)
  Extracorporeal Life Support (also known as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, ECMO) is cardiopulmonary bypass pumping done for prolonged periods of time at a child's bedside. Cardiopulmonary bypass was originally developed to allow surgery on the pediatric heart during "open heart surgery." However, we have been able to adapt the technology to support children who suffer pulmonary failure from a large variety of causes.
  
  Children with overwhelming pneumonias, those born with severe congenital anomalies such as diaphragmatic hernia with pulmonary hypoplasia, or children who have heart failure following cardiac surgery may be candidates for ECMO support. In all of these children, ECMO circulates a child's blood so that oxygen can be supplied to the body and gaseous wastes removed, allowing time for healing for a child's damaged lungs.
  
  These highly complex procedures are done in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit or the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Children's Memorial. Staff members in the Division of Pediatric General Surgery, as well as a host of other supporting services, provide consultation. Full parental consent is sought prior to the initiation of the ECMO procedure, which generally lasts from several days to as long as three to four weeks.
  
  Pediatric surgeons are available to families to keep them fully informed of a child's progress when undergoing this innovative but technologically demanding support. Ancillary care services and surgery are provided as necessary, and pediatric surgery maintains long-term follow-up services for all of the children who have undergone ECMO.

 

• surgery
  When the baby's condition has improved, the diaphragmatic hernia will be repaired with an operation. The stomach, intestine, and other abdominal organs are moved from the chest cavity back to the abdominal cavity. The hole in the diaphragm is repaired.

Many babies will need to remain in the NICU for a while after surgery. Although the abdominal organs are now in the right place, the lungs still remain underdeveloped. The baby will usually need to have breathing support for a period of time after the operation. Once the baby no longer needs help from a breathing machine (ventilator), he/she may still need oxygen and medications to help with breathing for weeks, months, or years.