Redemption in the NICU

4 years ago we suffered a very difficult and very real infectious outbreak in our NICU that resulted in many neonatal deaths. It was a very difficult time. One of the moments that sticks in my mind was when we had preterm triplets born in our hospital (it was our last viable set of triplets). It was a small space and we didn't have any room for these babies, but we did the best we could at the time and put these babies in our acute care NICU, all three in 1 bed in the middle of our small room surrounded by 3 other babies on the outside. Unfortunately, due to hospital acquired infection, which is difficult to control in a very tight space, two of the three triplets died.

I can still remember when the family brought back the one on this babies birthday thanking me for saving their child.

Fast forward to this week, our OB department has many babies ready for delivery, 18 to be exact with SIX sets of twins, and TWO sets of triplets. Twins and Triplets are often born prematurely requiring some sort of medical support at birth. This help could be simply some extra help feeding or extreme intervention and lengthy breath support caused by underdeveloped lungs. Our OB team and pediatrics team knew that our current 4 bed acute care NICU couldn't handle all of these babies. Two weeks ago,we had to shut down our NICU to new patients because we had two sets of extremely premature twins and another sick neonate over-filling our 4 beds and we had no space.

This becomes difficult because most preterm deliveries happen unexpectedly from either preterm labor, preterm leaking of amniotic fluid or maternal complications like high blood pressure and pre-ecclampsia, which has the possibility to cause strokes of death in mothers. These mothers are not often fit for transfer to a hospital that would be able to handle the preterm delivery of their babies, especially because the closest place is the capital 7 hours away along a difficult road while in labor or with high blood pressure. This is a set up for undesired outcomes.

 

So...

Click to See our new NICU

We expanded and built out our NICU in about 30 hours by converting a mother's room into additional acute care space. This essentially involved moving the mother's beds out, moving them to another part of the hospital (a converted corridor unfortunately), moving in extra equipment, installing 20 electrical plugs, and getting started!

It was a very hectic day, filled with hard work from the OB team, peds team, facilities team, cleaners and God's provision. Not one hour after we had finished getting the room ready, did those triplets deliver into a safe space for each one. 

We have since completed the expansion by smashing down walls, adding plugs, moving a bathroom wall, painting, moving shelves, and organizing all the essential equipment. Our facility team has been working hard!

This story has so many sides to it: The growth of a department, the hope for healthy babies, teamwork and collaboration, God's ultimate provision, but also redemption.

Four years ago when we had our last outbreak I thought this was a sign that my work was futile and it was time for us to leave Ethiopia because of these bad outcomes. God told me otherwise and told me to watch over his Kingdom like a pearl, that though the roughness and the pain, beauty would emerge.

I can say this week was very emotional for me, with some post traumatic response to the feeling of inevitable death and disease, yet God had other plans. He made a way in this difficulty and I can see his hand of protection and provision in it all. He redeemed what could have been a repeat of 4 years ago and has brought three healthy babies into this world (still needing support, they are 2 months early) and has reminded me that he is in the details, he cares of the lives of his children and that growth is possible. We are not destined to repeat mistakes or relive our past traumas, but he has a new story for us and can give us the freshest of springs in the desert.