Nationwide Childrens Hospital Hosts Small Baby Reunion

September 20, 2014

WHAT:
Nationwide Children’s Hospital hosts Small Baby Reunion to celebrate Small Baby graduates with families and NICU staff.

WHEN:
Sunday, September 21, 2014
1 to 4 p.m.
*1:30 p.m. best media opportunity

WHERE:
Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Stecker Auditorium
575 S. 18th St.
Columbus, OH 43205
*Parking available in visitor’s parking garage located at the corner of S. 18th St. and Mooberry Dr.

WHO:
Small baby graduates, parents, siblings and Nationwide Children’s Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) staff

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
More than 100 Small Baby graduates and their families are expected to attend Nationwide Children’s Hospital Small Baby Reunion. The NICU staff will join the celebration as they welcome back the children they once cared for as premature infants. Families will have the chance to share memories with the staff and enjoy a visit from several zoo animals from the Columbus Zoo.

An infant born at less than 27 weeks gestation is considered a Small Baby. These premature babies have survived tremendous odds at Nationwide Children’s thanks in large part to guidelines developed and tested at the bedside.

The Small Baby Guidelines (SBGs), developed by the neonatology team at Nationwide Children’s, provide a uniform, interdisciplinary approach to the family-centered care of extremely premature babies. The guidelines outline care regarding development, nutrition, cardiovascular functioning, infection and other potential health concerns during the first week of these infants’ lives.

Extreme prematurity is one of the leading causes of infant mortality. But the Small Baby Program at Nationwide Children’s Hospital is changing that. Just a few years ago, the survival rate for babies born at 23 weeks was 10 percent. Today, the survival rate at Nationwide Children’s is almost 90% percent, due to the standardized care that our guidelines provide.

CONTACT DAY OF EVENT:
Elizabeth (Beth) Martin
Nationwide Children’s Hospital
NICU
614-365-0074

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About Nationwide Children's Hospital

Named to the Top 10 Honor Roll on U.S. News & World Report’s 2023-24 list of “Best Children’s Hospitals,” Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of America’s largest not-for-profit free-standing pediatric health care systems providing unique expertise in pediatric population health, behavioral health, genomics and health equity as the next frontiers in pediatric medicine, leading to best outcomes for the health of the whole child. Integrated clinical and research programs, as well as prioritizing quality and safety, are part of what allows Nationwide Children’s to advance its unique model of care. Nationwide Children’s has a staff of more than 14,000 that provides state-of-the-art wellness, preventive and rehabilitative care and diagnostic treatment during more than 1.7 million patient visits annually. As home to the Department of Pediatrics of The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide Children’s physicians train the next generation of pediatricians and pediatric specialists. The Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of the Top 10 National Institutes of Health-funded free-standing pediatric research facilities. More information is available at NationwideChildrens.org.