premie baby burned

[jul511riv]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080124/...incubator_fire

:cens ored:

an 8lb premie wasn't in the room with his mother?! She's NEVER touched him?!

What is going on here...?

Why was he in there in the first place?

Please mamas...if they say they need to take your baby make CERTAIN that they can't keep him in the room with you (being under observation can be done in your room...oxygen can be done in YOUR room...etc...) and that they REALLY NEED to do this!

[mrscunning14]

OMG... this is so tragic. I feel so awful for all of them.

[True Blue]

That is awful.

However, there are babies born that big who DO need NICU help. And, I'm not sure having the baby with mom would have helped the outcome. I would imagine that if he was in her room it would have been that much longer before the fire would have been put out. My DS was in a warmer for a few minutes in the room with us...we were alone...if it had caught on fire we wouldn't have had anything to put it out!

[LavenderMae]

That poor baby, it is making me feel sick thinking of how much pain he was/is in.

[Lousli]

Unfortunately, there are sometimes things that can't be done in the room, because the equipment needed isn't present in the room. If a baby needs to be intubated and needs to get air immediately in terms of life support, the mother may not get a chance to hold the baby before they take him/her away. In most situations, a newborn baby should of course be with his/her mother, be held, nursed, etc. But if a baby is premature or ill, sometimes the means necessary to save his/her life need to happen immediately.

I think the issue isn't whether the baby was in the room with the mother or whether the mother had an opportunity to hold him. The issue is with the equipment used that allowed this to happen. If the equipment needed to give the baby oxygen was in the room with the mother, it still could have caught fire if the equipment were faulty.

[jul511riv]

the other question is WAS THIS INTERVENTION REALLY NECESSARY?!

We dont know the full story, but giving oxygen is not a MINOR intervention, so if a baby doesnt NEED it then....well.

either way, its so sad.

[Ironica]

Originally Posted by Lousli

Unfortunately, there are sometimes things that can't be done in the room, because the equipment needed isn't present in the room. If a baby needs to be intubated and needs to get air immediately in terms of life support, the mother may not get a chance to hold the baby before they take him/her away.

My therapist gave birth to her son at 25 weeks (after battling PTL for weeks prior). The nurses practically INSISTED that she touch him and give him a kiss before they isolated him in the NICU. I guess they figured she might not get another chance.

(He's a completely normal 5-year-old now, BTW... really amazing!)

[prettypixels]

What a horrible, horrible tragedy! That poor baby Poor mama not allowed to hold her baby!!!!

[EviesMom]

It had only been 12 hours. So who knows, it could have been a c under general anesthesia, maybe she really did touch him but he had breathing problems and couldn't hold him and the media screwed up that bit of the tale, anything. I presume he needed the NICU, as I cannot imagine a babe in NICU completely needlessly. I would NOT blame this in any way on the mother who had just given birth to a preemie, in probably a hard birth, regardless of his size. Poor Mama. Poor baby.

[CallMeMommy]

The thought of what that baby has gone through turns my stomach, and I hope he makes a complete recovery as soon as possible.

But as a preemie mom, I take issue with calling this child a "preemie" - 37 weeks is considered full-term, not even preterm, and nowhere near premature : I'm guessing that the reason he was in the NICU was either C-section recovery or lung issues (I had a friend who's 40-week 9-pound baby was in the NICU with respiratory distress)

[Ironica]

Originally Posted by CallMeMommy

The thought of what that baby has gone through turns my stomach, and I hope he makes a complete recovery as soon as possible.

But as a preemie mom, I take issue with calling this child a "preemie" - 37 weeks is considered full-term, not even preterm, and nowhere near premature I'm guessing that the reason he was in the NICU was either C-section recovery or lung issues (I had a friend who's 40-week 9-pound baby was in the NICU with respiratory distress)

I couldn't find in the article where they gave the gestational age of the baby?

What occurred to me is that 8 pounds is *heavy* for a preemie... and I wondered if there was a complication like uncontrolled GD (which can lead to respiratory problems even in full-term infants).

[EviesMom]

I had a 37 week baby as well, and the reference to "3 weeks early" and preemie made me wonder if they mean he was 34 weeks, b/c 37 weeks marks full term? Still, it's a tragedy and the poor baby, Mama, and family!

[wwisdomskr]

Well 40 weeks is "full-term." 37 weeks *is* "3 weeks early" but not premature. Most babies do fine at 37 weeks, but that doesn't mean they are technically full-term. It's this thinking that leads to unnecessary inductions before and right at 40 weeks, IMO, when most pregnancies naturally go beyond 40 weeks.

[KellMcK]

That is horrible. That poor, poor, baby! My heart aches for that family.

[CallMeMommy]

Originally Posted by Ironica

I couldn't find in the article where they gave the gestational age of the baby?

Saw it in a different article http://www.twincities.com//ci_805989...twincities.com