I want to tell my colleagues how a one-year-old baby has made history.
The University of Iowa’s hospitals and clinics [are] home to some of the world’s best doctors, nurses, researchers and many other top-notch health care professionals.
So, it happens now, it’s home to the Guinness World Record for delivering the most premature baby.
So, on July 5, 2024, the University of Iowa's Stead Family Children's neonatology team delivered Nash Keen, whose parents live in Ankeny, Iowa.
Nash was born 133 days premature, or at about 21 weeks.
He beat the impossible odds.
Today, he’s a happy and healthy one-year-old with loving parents, Randall and Mollie.
While their journey over the past year has been difficult, thanks to the University of Iowa and its world-class medical team, Nash is with us today.
The university is home to the highest survival rate for extremely premature infants in the United States.
Now, it happens that babies born before 28 weeks of pregnancy are considered extremely preterm.
When a baby is born extremely preterm, their organs [haven’t] fully develop[ed].
The baby is at high risk for serious, long-term health issues.
For newborns admitted to the University of Iowa’s Stead Family Children’s Hospital neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at 22 weeks, these babies have a survival rate of 62 percent.
This is more than double the national average.
At 25 weeks, the university’s survival rate for preterm babies is 91 percent.
These survival rates are a medical miracle that we don’t see anywhere else in our great country.
When Nash arrived at [21] weeks, his chances at surviving were technically “nonexistent,” because no baby had ever been born so early and survived.
The University of Iowa Hospital has achieved this medical advancement because of its neonatology team providing some of the most advanced care for extremely premature and high-risk infants anywhere in the world.
This care includes hemodynamics that has led to an incredible patient outcome.
The University of Iowa has trained two physicians in its hemodynamics fellowship program.
This is the first of its kind in the United States.
The care that extremely preterm babies receive moments after birth has been very vital to their survival and long-term health.
So, we should all congratulate the University of Iowa on its hard work and dedication to caring for extremely premature and high-risk infants.
Your work shows that life is precious.
And a happy birthday to one-year old, Nash!
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