THAT’S NICE: 1.5-Pound Baby Born On Cruise Ship At 23 Weeks, Beats 30 Percent Survival Odds.
A towel-wrapped 1.5-pound male infant—aptly called a “miracle baby”—made it out of a cruise ship and reached the port alive despite being born premature with low chances of survival.
Emily Morgan of Ogden, Utah, who was on a seven-day cruise aboard the Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas with her husband and 3-year-old daughter, said doctors did not expect her preemie son Haiden to live.
His strong lungs, an improvised incubator and a timely arrival in San Juan, Puerto Rico, likely saved the baby, now receiving care at a Miami neonatal intensive care unit.
The mother was in her 23rd week of pregnancy (the baby was not due until December) and was allowed by her doctor to go on the cruise. On the second day, however, she began to experience labor pains after going to bed. . . .
With the ship 14 hours away from the nearest Puerto Rican port, she gave birth to Haiden but was told by doctors that she miscarried. She insisted on seeing the baby when her “motherly instincts kicked in,” Morgan recalled.
Baby Haiden was initially pronounced dead but was revived and breathing 45 minutes later, although doctors were not optimistic about his odds of survival.
In the next few critical hours, the medical team on board kept Haiden warm using towels and heated saline pads and fed him a dextrose solution until the ship docked in San Juan two hours ahead of schedule—likely saving Haiden’s life, according to local doctors.
Good improvisation.