I’m a Philly neonatologist, and every time I discharge a baby from the NICU, I worry about the air they’ll breathe at home

The same polluted air that may have contributed to a baby's preterm birth is also a risk when the vulnerable baby goes home. Nenov/Moment Collection via Getty Images Discharge day in the neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU, should feel like a finish line. After weeks or months of monitors, alarms, oxygen, feeding tubes, blood tests and waiting, a family can finally take their baby home. As a neonatologist, I know how much work it takes to get that baby there. Their lungs have grown stronger.…