Marz Oshun Tucker has achieved a remarkable feat at MemorialCare’s Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach: she is the most premature baby to survive. After spending four months in the hospital, Marz has finally been able to go home.
IMAGE VIA MemorialCare
Sherrye Player-Tucker and her husband, Jamar Tucker, had been eagerly anticipating the arrival of their second child. However, their excitement turned into concern when Player-Tucker started experiencing premature labor at 22 weeks.
Their doula promptly notified the hospital, and the couple sought consultation with the neonatal intensive care unit team. Dr. Antoine Soliman, the medical director of the NICU at Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital, praised the Tuckers for their intelligence and informed questioning during the process. Player-Tucker specifically requested a positive environment for their baby, ensuring that no negative thoughts or words were expressed.
Marz was born on June 9 at just 21 weeks and six days old, weighing about the same as a can of soda. Dr. Peggy Chen, the neonatologist who delivered her, explained the challenges Marz faced due to her extreme prematurity.
IMAGE VIA MemorialCare
“This baby’s survival is a modern miracle,” Dr. Soliman told ABC7. “We find that babies that are born extremely premature like this, they don’t all survive. But because of specialized care that we give here at Miller Children’s and Women’s Hospital and a lot of the advancements in medical technology that we’ve been able to be blessed with, we really find that the survival of babies like Marz is improving every day.”
The infant spent several months in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit before being discharged on October 19th.
Sherrye marvels at her daughter’s strength and the lessons she has taught their family. “Marz has shown us how fragile life is,” Player-Tucker said, as she lovingly bottle-fed her baby. “Our faith in God, ourselves, and the amazing team here has grown.”
According to hospital records, there were approximately 6,000 births at the Long Beach facility last year, with 650 of them being premature. Premature birth is defined as occurring before the 37th week of pregnancy, whereas a normal pregnancy lasts 40 weeks.
The world record for the youngest premature baby to survive is held by an infant born at 21 weeks and one day, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
Now, the Tuckers are excited to have Marz join her older sister at home. They look forward to sharing the poems written by her father and the songs composed by her mother, as well as simply spending quality time together as a family on the couch.
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