One out of every ten babies born at the KHMH is premature and only seven out of every ten premature babies survive. It adds up to just about 2000 premature births and two hundred deaths annually. But our next story isn't about the statistics or the bad news, rather it is a celebration of those babies that overcame overwhelmingly grim odds and survived. Ten years and hundreds of premature births later, the khmh held a reunion for the premature neonates and 7NEWS was there.
Keith Swift Reporting,
These are the faces of the kids who almost didn't make it. The khmh calls them primates but you can call them survivors. They are regular kids now; restless, playful and fidgety but most were born premature, some had complications and birth defects--but all spent time in the baby special care unit at the KHMH.
Merlene Bailey-Martinez's son was born 2 months premature and weighed in at only two pounds. Eight years later she has the pictures to prove how far along a now 8-year-old Joshua has come and grown.
Merlene Bailey-Martinez,
He was born very very very premature. He was born less than seven months
and he weighed two pounds, fourteen ounces. He was just a tiny little thing that we could hardly hold and he stayed in the special care baby unit, as it was called then, for one month. We could barely hold him. At the time he used to have to be held in a pillow. I used to actually put him in my bra at one point in time to keep him warm and to see him he is actually tall for his and doing very well and I owe it to these people because they knew what they were doing and cared enough to do it."
Colleen Joseph's daughter Gina Budd was also premature but spent ten days in the hospital. Joseph said that was an excruciating ten days. It was hard to get Gina to crack a smile but her mom was full of joy
Colleen Joseph,
"I was here all the time and I didn't want to leave her at all. The day they told me she could go home, I had already changed her clothes to go home so there she is. She is a miracle, she was born on the 10th of May so she was my mother's day gift."
It was a bittersweet celebration for Shari Rhaburn. Her son Ryan was born four months premature. That's the good news. The bad is that his twin brother didn't make it.
Shari Rhaburn,
"During my delivery they discovered that it was twin, it was a set of twins, and one died ten days after. He had to stay in the hospital for two months. His birth weight was two pounds three ounces and he is here today nine years
old. The 25th of January was his birthday."
And while Ryan has celebrated nine birthdays Nadira Myles hopes her daughter Stacy Patten will see her first. Stacy was born just last November and weighed about a pound.
Nadira Myles,
"She was extremely premature, born six months, weighed 0.70 kilograms and was hospitalized for about a month and two weeks but now she is doing okay. The last time I weighed her, about three weeks ago, she had five and a quarter pounds. How happy am I? You can see the smile on my face. I am extremely happy and grateful, thanks to all the doctors because here they take very good care of her."
Keith Swift,
Did you ever think she wouldn't make it?
Nadira Myles,
"Yeah. When I was in here to have me they told me they would cut me but if we do it my baby wouldn't live because she was too small but I pray everyday and thank God she made it."
But more than divine intervention, all these parents say most of the credit is owed to the staff here at the KHMH's Pediatric Department. The unit's chief Dr. Victor Rosado says today was today a continuation of the bond with these former patients.
Dr. Victor Rosado,
"There is no structured way of us reassessing our patients once they have left Karl Heusner and this is an attempt to get that started, to create a clinic whereby periodically we will see our patients and reassess our work."
And if you go by the recommendation from patients like this 5 year old who was born premature, and is now a Holy Redeemer School student, and who personally asked me to be on the news tonight, they'd all get an A.
