Madison doctor leads program saving extremely premature infants
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In Madison, Wisconsin, Dr. Claudette Onyelobi directs the Small Baby Care program at American Family Children’s Hospital and UnityPoint Health-Meriter, working to improve outcomes for babies born as early as five months into a pregnancy.
The program provides advanced care for extremely premature infants, a need highlighted by the fact that Black infants in Wisconsin are born prematurely at a rate 70 percent higher than white infants.
Masompe Chisenga delivered her daughter, Ayah, at 22 weeks and 3 days, weighing less than a pound. Doctors initially presented Chisenga with the option of foregoing intervention, but she and her husband chose to allow medical staff to attempt to save Ayah’s life, despite the significant risks. After 28 hours of labor and nearly 10 months in the NICU, Ayah is now a thriving three-and-a-half-year-old.
Onyelobi developed the program after a personal experience during her training, where she was unable to provide life-saving care to a baby born at 22 weeks due to limited hospital capabilities. She then dedicated herself to creating a program in Madison that could offer the necessary interventions, including specialized equipment like breathing tubes the size of coffee straws, to these vulnerable infants.
The collaborative program between UW Health and UnityPoint Health-Meriter is one of only a handful in the country equipped to handle such cases.
