Oliver Newman was only 1 pound, 12 ounces when he came into the world. The tiny preemie, born at 28 weeks, spends his days growing in an neonatal incubator at the Salmon Creek Legacy Hospital in Vancouver.
In the slums of Nairobi, infant death is a common event. One doctor decided to fight the death rate by creating a homemade incubator for tiny infants.
Many premature infants who are born weighing less than 1,500 grams (3 pounds, 4 ounces) suffer from intraventricular hemorrhages or brain bleeds, which can lead to a condition called hydrocephalus (water on the brain), and sometimes causing skull deformities, severe disabilities, or death.
A study by the US National Institutes of Health may have found genetic links to premature birth.
November is Prematurity Awareness Month. In honor of this, some parents who have had babies prematurely have offered to tell their stories to create awareness about his important cause.
Our sixth profile is of a beautiful little girl named Elizabeth.
While our son was in the NICU, we met many parents who were able to bring their babies home at 4 – 4.5lbs . Most car seats are rated for infants weighing over 5lbs, so I always wondered how these parents got their preemies home. The Angel Guard-Infant Car Bed helps enable hospitals to send [...]
Just 10 days after they arrived 6 weeks early, the first of the ‘record breaking’ quintuplets will be joining his parents at home. Ryder Wilkinson, who was born weighing 3 lbs 15 oz, will be the first quint to come home according to dad Jayson’s blog. Rustin and Kyndall will be following suit in the [...]
In a five-year randomized trial on 153 women, researchers found that giving nitroglycerin to women in premature labour greatly improves their baby’s health. Dr. Graeme Smith, principal investigator in the study, says that using a nitro patch on pregnant women helps to prolong pregnancy and improves the baby’s condition with fewer side effects than medication [...]
Experts warn that stress and depression are the major causes of babies arriving too early. Research shows that stress hormones – which play a crucial role in the development of the unborn baby – shoot up in women who are depressed during pregnancy. High levels of these hormones are involved in triggering labour, leading scientists [...]
Everytime I read a story about the odds these babies have overcome, I am amazed at the strength such a small person has. Kaven Simmons arrived at 23 weeks, weighing just over 1lb and doctors put his chances of survival at nil. He was so fragile that his ribs broke with the effort of breathing, [...]
Hundreds of patients including newborn babies may have been exposed to tuberculosis by an infected hospital employee, city health officials said Thursday. The employee, whose identity was not disclosed, was diagnosed with active TB on Jan. 30, said Andrew Tucker, a spokesman for the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The department was notified [...]
Toronto’s Women’s College Hospital has closed its neonatal intensive care ward because of a serious bacterial infection. The ward handles premature babies, some weighing as little as 500 grams, who are extremely vulnerable to infections that are harmless to full-term babies. Officials believe crowded conditions allowed the infection to spread. They say 41 babies currently [...]
An interesting study was released yesterday concerning the long term effects of using steroids on preemies to strengthen their lungs. Most of the babies in our hospital received 1 or more courses of steroids to help them start to repair the damage and inflammation, the ventilator had done to their lungs. My concern at the [...]
