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Smallest Baby to Survive in New Jersey--Second Smallest in the Nation--Arrives Home in Time for Thanksgiving Livingston, N.J.— It will be an extra special Thanksgiving for Melissa and Brian Martin who will be taking their five-month-old son home from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (N.I.C.U.) at Saint Barnabas Medical Center where he was born in June and is considered to be the smallest baby ever to survive in New Jersey. Weighing only 11 ounces (320 grams), the 23-week-old twin boy born in June at Saint Barnabas Medical Center and cared for at the hospital’s N.I.C.U. is also the second smallest newborn to survive in the country. The smallest baby to survive nationally, who weighed 10 ounces (280 grams), was three weeks older than the Martin baby. Tyler Martin of Gillette will be released from the N.I.C.U. on November 25 to join his twin brother, Calahan, who was released on October 26. “It will be wonderful to have both babies home and we are very thankful,” says Mrs. Melissa Martin. “It will be great to have the babies together again. They only got to see each other once, on the day that Cal was released from the hospital. We really want to thank Dr. Sun, Dr. Kamtorn and a nurse who cared for the boys, Victoria Kratsch, R.N. We truly believe if our boys had not been born at Saint Barnabas, they would not have survived.” Outstanding Survival Rate at NICU For infants with the lowest birth weights, the Saint Barnabas N.I.C.U. has a survival rate that is more than double the average rate at N.I.C.U.s internationally. In 2002, premature infants born at 23-weeks gestation at Saint Barnabas had a 70 percent chance of survival compared to the average survival rate of 25 percent at 449 N.I.C.U.s throughout the world. Moreover, preemies from Saint Barnabas have a lower complication rate for common problems such as blindness and chronic lung disease. Round-the-Clock Care When a premature infant enters the world at Saint Barnabas, he or she immediately receives medical care by an attending neonatologist. Even if quintuplets are born, each baby has a dedicated neonatologist (one for each baby) in the delivery room from the first second of life. The Medical Center has eight neonatologists in the N.I.C.U. during the day and two at night, with an additional three available at a moment’s notice at all hours. This kind of staff service is not readily available at other hospitals. Saint Barnabas neonatologists also focus attention on the need for delicate pulmonary care for premature infants. Specialized ventilation equipment is used to open the lungs, while also limiting the pressure so that no damage can occur. Physicians also use a special medication to open the lungs, which is administered into the lungs even before the infant draws his or her first breath. This helps to keep the lungs open. Too Much Oxygen Can be Toxic For the past six months, N.I.C.U. neonatologists have had success using blended oxygen instead of pure oxygen in the delivery room to minimize oxygen exposure for the preemies. Premature infants do not have enough enzymes to neutralize pure oxygen. The use of 100 percent oxygen can be toxic and lead to long-term tissue damage, resulting in chronic lung disease and blindness. “It is attention to detail that makes the difference,” says Dr. Sun. “We are one of the few hospitals in the nation that deliver exactly the correct amount of oxygen the baby needs, instead of 100 percent oxygen from the first minutes of life in the delivery room and throughout the period of intensive care.” Following Preemies as They Grow Premature infants continue to be evaluated on an outpatient basis through the High Risk Infant Follow Up Program at Saint Barnabas. For Dr. Sun and his team of neonatologists, this opportunity to see former preemies thrive is a priceless experience. “To see them grow up so beautifully is the joy of being a neonatologist,” says Dr. Sun who is overjoyed to see the progress of the tiny twins born in June. “Our happiness is to save them and then see them grow.” [ top ] |
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