ORLANDO, Fla. — For many women, the birth process can be an emotional one, especially when the unexpected happens.
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That’s why Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital for women and babies has an entire team dedicated to providing care to newborns.
On Friday, Asaun Johnson and his parents reunited with the team who saved his young life.
He was a part of Winnie’s Tiny Baby Program which is made up of five physicians and countless others who provide around the clock care to babies delivered early.
“It’s very fulfilling,” Dr. Kathryn Winn, a neonatologist at Winnie Palmer Hospital, said. “Being on the Tiny Baby team can be incredibly challenging, we have a lot of very sick babies every day.”
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From the moment these babies between 22 and 25 weeks are born, doctors are on the clock to get them specific care within what doctor’s call “golden hour” which is the babies first hour of life.
“We get those babies a breathing tube, and we get them to the NICU as fast as we possibly can to get some sterile procedures done, some IV access, while protecting their lungs and brain,” Dr. Winn said.
Doctors said the next month or two is a roller coaster of emotions for families until the breathing tube is removed and babies can focus on growth.
“I was so scared,” Tracy Johnson, Asaun’s mom, said.
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The Johnson family knows the intense process all too well. Asaun was born at 23 weeks.
“I remember the first day I came, and I saw him in the incubator I just cried, because it’s him,” Johnson said. “When I saw that, I can’t believe it. This small baby and he’s still alive.”
For eight months, Asaun fought to be healthy enough to be discharged and sent home.
Now, his mom told us, he is thriving.
“He’s fun, energetic, talkative,” Johnson said. “He’s just Asaun, his name means powerful and complete. He is powerful and he is complete. He completes everything.”
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