K.H.M.H. holds reunion for premature babies

In early February the staff of the newborn intensive care unit of the paediatric ward at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital will hold a very special party. Over the last decade, doctors and nurses say they have cared for hundreds of premature babies, dedicating time, energy, and emotion to the tiny patients. But rarely do they get to find out how the infants are doing after being discharged. That is about to change as the unit is planning a reunion… and as Dr. Victor Rosado puts it, the idea is to celebrate life.

Dr. Victor Rosado, Paediatrician
?A lot of doctors and nurses are scared to work with these patients because they seem so fragile. It?s a very emotional thing, you get attached to them. Mortality is sometimes high in the wards.?

Janelle Chanona, Reporting
According to doctor in charge of the newborn intensive care unit of the K.H.M.H., paediatrician Victor Rosado, even health officials need a special gift to work with these tiny patients.

Dr. Victor Rosado
?Premature deliveries are on the rise, but also the amount of them that are surviving is also increasing. So whereby ten, fifteen years ago many of these babies did not survive, now with the advent of technology, with better care that we have here at Karl Heusner, very young, very small babies are surviving.?

?We?ve had babies that weighed six hundred and fifty grams, that?s a little over a pound. This baby was transferred from a district hospital, after they thought the baby would definitely die. The baby was transferred to our ward and spent more than three months with us and then went home. We have not seen that baby very often since then and it?s cases like that that stick out in our mind and we would definitely like to see them again, two years later, three years later to see how they are doing.?

With that in mind, the K.H.M.H. is planning to host the children and their parents at the paediatric ward next month.

Dr. Victor Rosado
?We are asking for babies that have, that were born with less than three pounds or about fourteen hundred and fifty grams, which are the ones that give us the most trouble, which are the ones that could have the potential for developmental problems. Those are the ones we are asking for to please come on February second, for a gathering celebrating their life.?

?It will be hopefully a joyous occasion, it will be like a party; we will have music, food. We just want to see them, talk to them and so the nurses can see the fruits of their labour in real life.?

The K.H.M.H. is hoping to make the paediatric reunion an annual event.