From happy and excited, to nervous or scared. These are all feelings new parents may go through, and something Sophie and Vincent of Moose Jaw, experienced first-hand with their newborn daughter Alexia, who was born seven weeks premature.
Sophie and Vincent were eagerly looking forward to starting the next chapter of their life with their new baby. That is until Sophie’s ultrasound at 28 weeks revealed an anomaly and she was told to go directly to the hospital in Moose Jaw for further tests. While there, she was advised that her baby presented a risk of premature birth at any time, and she was to be on bed rest to delay labour as long as possible.
“The doctors advised me that I may need to travel to Regina for labor, as the hospital there was better equipped for premature births.” Sophie tells us. “Hearing that, I had to start preparing mentally for the idea of potentially having to travel to give birth for the safety of my baby.”
At 31 weeks Sophie went into labor quickly and suddenly, while still at her home in Moose Jaw. This meant there was no time to drive to Regina, and despite the excellent care they provided to Sophie, the Moose Jaw hospital was not equipped to deal with such a premature birth. However, our special Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) transport team from Regina’s General Hospital was dispatched to Moose Jaw to help. They would safely transport baby Alexia to our NICU in the Rawlco Centre for Mother Baby Care for the care she needed to survive.
Alexia made the journey to Regina in a transport isolette, a mobile mini NICU that allows the medical transport team to provide the baby with a variety of breathing supports, cardiac monitoring and adjustments to temperature and humidity. It is a crucial piece of technology that provides premature babies born outside of Regina with the best chance of survival as they are transported to our NICU.
“The technology used to transport Alexia was simply amazing. Without it, I’m not even sure how we would have gotten her to Regina for the care she needed.” Sophie says. “The entire medical team from top to bottom were amazing in their care, and very well organized. The work that Hospitals of Regina Foundation is doing to invest in new isolettes will be life changing for families and makes a stressful time for us as parents just that much easier. I can’t thank you for that enough.”
“Hospitals of Regina Foundation is committed to investing in priority technology such as neonatal transport isolettes so that babies from across southern Saskatchewan who need specialized care in our NICU receive the care they need on their journey to Regina,” says Lisa Green, senior vice president, Hospitals of Regina Foundation.
