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While many Christians were celebrating the Christmas
season by recalling the story of Mary and Joseph’s journey
to Bethlehem, another Mary and Joseph were welcoming a child into
the world on December 28, 1999. Unfortunately, for Mary and Joseph
Spiteri of Franklin, NJ, this birth was not supposed to have taken
place until February. A sudden bout of bleeding in the middle of
the night caused Mary to phone her obstetrician who told her to
come to the hospital immediately.
Unbeknownst to the couple as they raced to Saint
Barnabas Medical Center, Mrs. Spiteri was experiencing both placental
abruption and preecclamsia, conditions dangerous to both mother
and unborn baby. At the Medical Center, the baby’s heart
rate showed a significant drop and physicians determined that an
emergency cesarean section was needed. During the procedure, a
team from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) was at the bedside,
prepared to usher the newborn into the specialized unit for premature
and sick babies. At 3:16 a.m., baby Kaylee Spiteri was delivered
nine weeks early weighing only 2 pounds 13.8 ounces.
“They were right there waiting for her,” says
Mrs. Spiteri of the NICU team. “As shocked as we were, with
so many questions about her weight and her health, they made us
feel comfortable immediately.”
The couple never thought of a NICU as a necessity
because Mrs. Spiteri’s pregnancy had progressed without complication
prior to the sudden health problems. In retrospect, they were pleased
to have chosen Saint Barnabas because it is a Level III Regional
Perinatal Center, the highest designation attainable by the New
Jersey State Department of Health. The 50-bed NICU is the centerpiece
of the pediatric component.
“Since our experience, I tell everyone that
is expecting a child to be conscious of whether or not the hospital
they choose is equipped to care for premature babies,” adds
Mr. Spiteri. “We put our trust in the NICU staff and they
guided us through everything with so much patience and attention.”
The NICU at Saint Barnabas treats premature babies
born at less than 34 weeks gestation, as well as full term infants
with special needs. The average baby in the NICU was carried to
between 24 to 36 weeks, although the unit has cared for infants
born at only 23 weeks. The NICU treats many multiple birth babies,
twins, triplets and occasionally quadruplets, as they have a greater
chance of premature birth.
The NICU staff, which includes neonatologists and
neonatal intensive care nurses, is always ready to transport infants
to this specialized unit. Unlike most large medical centers where
residents care for premature infants, the NICU at Saint Barnabas
has only board-certified neonatologists attending to young patients
at all times of the day or night.
“I tell parents that this is a very stressful
time and that no one wants to deliver prematurely,” says
Teresa Stec, M.D., neonatologist. “It does comfort them to
know that, given the circumstances, this is the best possible place
for their baby.”
Waiting for the day when an infant can leave the
NICU may seem endless at times, but parents with newborns at Saint
Barnabas make their baby’s NICU environment a home away from
home. Through the loving attention of staff and family members,
NICU babies receive comfort and care while they take each day one
baby step at a time.
As they prepared to take baby Kaylee home from the
NICU, the Spiteri family recalled the NICU bulletin board filled
with Halloween and Christmas photos of babies who had once been
in the unit. “Seeing all those happy, healthy faces made
me think if they can do it, our daughter can too,” says Mrs.
Spiteri.
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