SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Good news for one Central Coast family, as they take home their baby daughter who was born under weight at one pound, 15 ounces.
Marian Regional Medical Center released the following information concerning Baby Moomey:
Marian Regional Medical Center (MRMC), a Dignity Health member which also includes Arroyo Grande Community Hospital and French Hospital Medical Center, is pleased to announce that after three months in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU), the hospital's lowest birth-weight baby was discharged in late November of 2012.
Baby Ellie Moomey came into the world on August 11, 2012, at just 25 weeks of gestation and weighing only one pound, 15 ounces. Prior to delivery, Baby Ellie's mother, Brittany Moomey, was admitted to MRMC's Antepatum Unit for high-risk pregnant patients who require hospital monitoring. Just three days after admission, Brittany went into premature labor – 15 weeks before Ellie's scheduled due date.
"It wasn't yet time for Ellie to be born and we were scared. All we wanted was for her to be okay," recalls Brittany. "She was so small she could fit in the palm of my hand. It was so surreal to see our little girl in such a fragile state and we were extremely concerned about what the uncertain future held for her."
Brittany and her husband, Staff Sergeant James Moomey of Vandenberg Air Force Base, never dreamed that their baby would need lifesaving neonatal technology and medical expertise for weeks on end to survive. Fortunately for the Moomey Family, MRMC's state-of-the-art NICU offers the most advanced medical technology and is staffed with physicians from the nation's most esteemed medical schools and the highest trained nursing professionals who specialize in high-risk deliveries.
"Babies born as early as Ellie, face some challenges and hardships to overcome. Our job as the NICU Team is to guide families through this difficult process and provide the highest level of medical care to achieve the best outcomes possible," explains Mary Richards, RN, Neonatal Clinical Nurse Specialist and NICU Director. "There is no greater reward than seeing our critically-ill infants thrive and improve to the point where they are healthy enough to go home. Being a part of this amazing process is emotional – emotional for the family and emotional for the staff. But when our patients succeed, we succeed and the gratification of helping families is beyond words."
Photo courtesy of the Moomey Family
Photo courtesy of the Moomey Family
