Mercy San Juan welcomes first quadruplets in NICU
On Oct. 4, 2006, the Family Birth
Center joined parents Martha Orozco and Felix Guadiana in welcoming
the first quadruplets born at Mercy San Juan Medical Center
- also believed to be the first delivery of quadruplets at any
Sacramento-area Mercy hospital.
The quadruplets, three boys and a girl, were
exactly 32 weeks gestation at birth. Mrs. Orozco had been under the
watchful care of perinatologists from the Sacramento Maternal-Fetal
Medicine, Medical Group. The group of perinatologists (doctors who
specialize in high-risk pregnancy) joined Mercy in July - giving
Mercy an expert team of perinatologists, OB/GYNs and neonatologists
capable of handling the most complex pregnancies.
With each C-section delivery by perinatologist
Herman Hedriana, MD, a nurse took a newborn next door to
the NICU where neonatologists, nurses and respiratory therapists
stood by to assess and provide the babies with any necessary
assistance as they took their first breaths. The babies weighed
between 3 pounds, 3 ounces and 3 pounds, 10.5 ounces. Brothers
Fernando, Oswaldo, Angel, and sister Xitlaly are now breathing on
their own and have been taken off the ventilators.
"The mother and babies are doing very well.
Any time you're dealing with four babies it's a high-risk
pregnancy. The specialized doctors, nurses and other healthcare
professionals we have at Mercy should be a comfort to any family
who comes to our birth center," says Bob Kahle, MD, Medical
Director of Mercy Women's & Children's Services.
Mrs. Orozco
and Mr. Guadiana, both 27, are from Oroville and have one
other child, a 10-year-old daughter. Mr. Guadiana has some
experience with multiple births. He was one of triplet boys 27
years ago.
Mercy San Juan delivers more than 3,000 babies
each year. As a whole, the six local Mercy hospitals deliver more
than 9,500 babies a year. Mercy San Juan's NICU annually ranks
among the world's top units in caring for the smallest of newborns,
according to the Vermont Oxford Network.
