Hi, I'm Anup Katheria. I'm a neonatologist and I work here at Sharp Mary
Birch Hospital for Women & Newborns. This is the largest delivery hospital in California,
where we deliver over 8,500 babies a year. And one of the great things
about working in this hospital: all the new therapies and new technologies
that we're using to help give babies the best start in life. The majority
of babies that we take care of are born up to four months early and I'm
going to show an example of some of the technologies we use on these kinds
of babies. Behind me here is the setup of a baby that is the exact size
of a baby born over four months early or around 24 weeks of age, and you
can see the technologies that we use on infants like this.
So over here are two of the therapies that we use. One of them is a light
here and this light actually helps get rid of bilirubin in babies,
which is a naturally occurring substance, but at high levels can cross the brain
and cause problems in terms of development. And this light here has a UV
spectrum that allows the baby to get rid of the bilirubin actually through
their skin and we'll leave this light on for several days to help babies
get rid of bilirubin to safe levels. The other great technology that you
can see over here is this camera. This NIC View camera allows parents to
remotely view their baby from either on a different floor or even from afar.
And it is important to realize that babies can spend up to four months
with us here in the NICU so being able to bond and be able to see your
child is critical. So these are two really great technologies that we're using here today.
So next to me is one of two twins that was born at 24 weeks gestation,
again that's 16 weeks early or four months right at the end of the second trimester.
These twins were born five days ago and the boy right here next to me is actually
on some special equipment that I'm going to walk you through. So if you come
in here close you can see that, most babies are actually, they require
a breathing tube at birth but he actually is on a device known as CPAP,
which gives him air through the nose, into the lungs.
So now here's his sister who's a little sicker than his brother. In fact
she's not receiving the therapy of oxygen through her nose but actually
has a breathing tube and is hooked up to a very specialized ventilator
that delivers over 600 breaths every minute to this infant. And one of
the things that the ventilator does is that because the breaths are so tiny,
it minimizes any extra damage to her lungs, if she is going to require
this therapy for a long time.
There are a number of therapies that we use in addition to the ones I've
already described. One of them is called hydrotherapy, where we take babies
that are still on, sometimes on respiratory support, needing oxygen to breathe,
but we immerse them into a warm water bath, which creates the ability for
that baby to move around as if they were still in the womb, to allow their
joints to further develop, to build muscle strength and tone.
So as a neonatologist, one of my primary roles are to attend high-risk deliveries.
And these are going to be babies that are not going to be breathing
well at birth. And one of those things requires the obstetrician to cut
the cord where the baby's attached to the placenta, and hand the babies
off to doctors like myself. The problem with that is, in that cord as well
as the placenta are billions of stem cells and nutrient lifesaving cells
that help baby's brain, heart and lungs. And one of the research that we've
been trying to do over the past several years are looking at the benefits
of that cord blood given to babies who need it most.
Well one of the things that we've been able to develop are these wonderful
new beds that allow the baby to remain attached to the mother. And the
idea is to continue to develop this therapy across other hospitals.
Currently we're the only hospital in the country that's using this technology
But the hope is over the next several years, more and more of these beds will
be available in every labor and delivery room to allow these babies to
remain connected to their mother, both emotionally as well as physically
with these cords intact.
So thank you for joining me on this virtual tour. I hope you were able
to see a number of the examples of the therapies we're using for our little
babies as well as get an idea of the type of care we provide for our newborns.
And it's really important for me to stress that none of this would be possible
without our philanthropic partners, the families that gave their time and
energy to help us deliver the best care for these newborns. And I hope
you continue to partner with us over the upcoming years. Thank you so much.