MCDH delivers 1-pound 8-ounce baby

12/7/06

     Baby David weighed in at 1.5 pounds.                      Proud parents Jocelyn Ferreira and Gustavo Medina.

An extraordinary event took place in the Obstetrics Department at MCDH on December 1, giving department staff the opportunity to show their specialized skills and abilities in a challenging situation.  At 7:34 a.m., Gualala resident Jocelyn Ferreira delivered a 1-pound 8-ounce baby boy with proud dad Gustavo Medina standing by. 

Baby David Medina was born extremely prematurely at 28 weeks, and MCDH staff were ready and able to provide him with excellent care, stabilizing and preparing him for transport to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at UCSF.  In the NICU, David will be fed intravenously until he is strong enough to nurse. 

When mothers-to-be arrive at MCDH with extremely premature labor or other complications, they are transported whenever possible to UCSF to give birth where the NICU is close at hand.  In this case, however, baby David arrived too quickly to allow for such a pre-birth transport. 

When it became clear that David’s premature delivery was imminent, MCDH staff rallied all the resources needed to prepare for any potential outcome.  The team called UCSF to initiate the transport process, and called in the hospital’s respiratory therapy, lab, pharmacy and x-ray crews in addition to the pediatrician to prepare the medications and treatments that might be needed by the baby and mom.

While the local team of caregivers provided for baby David’s every need, a specialized team from UCSF was on its way to the Little River Airport in its medically equipped fixed-wing airplane.  The MCDH ambulance brought the UCSF crew to the hospital, where they finished preparing the tiny boy for his first flight.  The baby’s family drove down to UCSF later that evening, staying nearby in accommodations that UCSF helped them to find.

While not the case with all preemies, David’s lungs were strong enough that he could breath on his own from the start.  Baby David also disproved the “rule” that preemie girls fare better than preemie boys.  In fact, he was so vigorous that the first thing he did was bite physician Brent Wright’s finger and start to cry.  “He is strong and was born with a fighting spirit,” said Susan Jones, RN and manager of the OB Department.

MCDH staff members continuously work to maintain their skills to be prepared for such rare events.  MCDH has an ongoing contractual agreement with UCSF’s neonatology program to provide for transports and medical consultations, and the UCSF team regularly delivers in-service trainings for local staff. 

“We are lucky to have such a highly skilled and caring staff here at MCDH,” says CEO Raymond Hino.  “Without our hospital and OB Department being here, this family might not have had such a wonderful outcome.  We are thrilled with how well David is doing.”

As of this writing, baby David continues to thrive and grow, and staff hopes that he will be able to go home to join his family very soon.

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