Born February 22, at 32 weeks of pregnancy, weighing only four pounds, six ounces, young Xion Isiah Pygum experiences many of the same issues found in other babies who are born too soon. But he’s making great progress in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he slowly gains weight and learns to breathe better. At first, the tiny boy had to be fed through a tube, but is now breastfed – a key achievement that will help him go home.
Pygum is among the more than 12 percent of babies who are born prematurely -- before the 37th week of pregnancy in the United States each year. Last month, the Department of Health and Human Services designated more than $40 million in grants to combat rising numbers of premature births nationally. The number of preterm births in the U.S. increased by 36 percent over the last twenty years.
Already, however, there are some signs of optimism in the fight to lower this number. For example, research published last October suggests that
regular mouthwash use may decrease the number of preterm births in pregnant women with periodontal disease, which is linked to systemic inflammation and infections that put women into labor too soon.
According to the March of Dimes, the statistics on preterm births in Pennsylvania looks like this:
- 2,871 babies are born weekly in the state
- 331 babies are born preterm
- 22 babies die before turning one-year-old
While babies grasp for life as a ‘preemie’ in a NICU, with a low birthweight and frail lungs, brains and other organs, their parents also suffer tremendous stress and anxiety.
While Pygum and other NICU babies receive around-the-clock care at HUP, the hospital also responds to their parents’ wide range of emotions and challenges with a new program.
Started last November, regular “Coffee Hour” peer support sessions connect parents of former NICU patients with those who currently have an infant in the unit, to share experiences and insight.
After attending her first “Coffee Hour,” it was clear the meeting left an impression on Pygum’s mother, Asia Pygum.
“Not only did I get some time to myself, but I was able to express how it feels to have a baby,” said Pygum. “Just having someone to talk to, I don’t feel like I’m in the boat by myself.”
Pygum talked to other parents of current NICU babies and parent mentors who previously had a child in HUP’s NICU. One of those mentors is Kish Taylor-English. In one of the sessions, Taylor-English explained to the other parents that it was helpful for her to keep busy while her daughter, Kayla English, was in HUP’s NICU. While offering many helpful tips on resources available to parents and other concerns NICU parents may have, Taylor-English reminded the others that not everything said at the “Coffee Hour” should be applied to every NICU baby. “It’s important to know that every patient’s case is different,” she said. “Sometimes we (as parents of a child in the NICU) hear something and just go with it.”
Although Taylor-English never found out why her daughter was born premature, as is often the case with premature babies, she assured the other parents that “it’s okay to be upset and know it’s okay to ask why.”
“Coffee Hour provides parents with an experienced ear to listen and offer feedback, guidance, resources and support,” said JaNeen Cross, MSW, LSW, MBA, newborn intensive care social worker at HUP and part of the multidisciplinary HUP and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia team that planned and operate this initiative. “More importantly, the support is coming from someone who has climbed the mountain and can say I truly understand how difficult it is.” Cross looks forward to seeing the benefits from empowering families to take even more educated and active roles as members of the treatment team and continue to guide the Coffee Hour program.
Read more about the coffee hour on Inside Penn Medicine here.