University of South Alabama Hospital opens Gulf Coast's first 'small baby unit' for babies born at 28 weeks, earlier

There is new hope for babies born before 28 weeks gestation, thanks to the University of South Alabama (USA) Children’s & Women’s Hospital in Mobile.

WKRG reported that a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Wednesday for the newly operational “small baby unit” at the hospital. The outlet added that there are less than ten similar units in the United States, and USA’s facility is the first of its kind throughout the Gulf Coast states.

Cathy McCurley, a registered nurse at USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital, explained why the unit is so significant.

There are numerous advantages to putting babies born so prematurely (being born before 37 weeks is considered premature) in the same room together, which is one focus of the unit at USA.

“We were trying to put babies with specific needs together that were similar. So those babies that are born before 28 weeks and before 1,000 grams have a lot of not only medical needs, but neuro-developmental needs. So they are born and having to process our environment much earlier than they should have to and so not only do they have medical needs that need to be met, but they also have neurological needs,” she outlined to WKRG.

“We have to be careful about lighting and sound, and good touch, bad touch, and all of those kinds of things as well as their medical concerns,” McCurley continued. “And grouping them together allows us to focus on them as a group rather than… when they’re spread out amongst the other patients you may not have them paired well, and that runs into problems in trying to manage that aspect of their care.”

Research has shown that babies born before 28 weeks gestation or weighing less than 2.2 pounds have better health outcomes when a specially trained team provides care, and the survival rate for these babies is improving, according to WKRG. USA’s new small baby unit can hold up to 22 babies at a time.

Additionally, housing these babies together gives their parents the opportunity to share their experience with each other and know that they are not alone.

WKRG shared two examples of babies born before 28 weeks who have thrived at USA.

One baby named Tatum was born on March 7 of this year, weighing just over a pound.

Now, about three months later, he is reportedly gaining weight and getting healthier every day, thanks to the hardworking doctors and nurses in the new small baby unit.

Cullen Potter is another example. This is the baby born “barely bigger than a Coke” who went viral last year after “graduating” from USA’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

His mother, Molli Potter, said that he needed to be delivered almost four full months early. However, she had a hard time finding a hospital with doctors who would even attempt delivering before 24 weeks, with many writing her son off as a lost cause.

That changed when she called USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital, and Cullen was born at 22 weeks, weighing 13.9 ounces.

Cullen reportedly had to stay in the hospital for 160 days, up until what would have been his regular delivery date.

“He was the size of my hand and didn’t even look like a baby,” Potter said.

Due to the facilities at USA, Cullen is doing much better now. In fact, he recently celebrated his first birthday in March.

Potter shared, “He just got a complete clean bill of health from every single doctor that he’s seen. No medications, nothing. He’s working on walking just like every other baby his age.”

She wants other parents in her situation to know that there absolutely is hope for babies born even this prematurely.

“So many give up on them without even trying,” Potter emphasized. “[Another] hospital point blank said, No. He’s not worth it, two-percent chance, we’re not going to do anything.’ I want people to see that they can make it. That they not only can make it, but they can have a good quality of life just like any other baby.”