Premature Infants

The hands work quickly, deftly, stitching the edge of a pink infant gown. They are nimble hands, well-trained. They are also tattooed. Dario Trevino is the young man attached to these hands. Trevino, 17, lives at the Preston Youth Correctional Facility in the Sierra foothills. He's doing time for assault with a deadly weapon. And he's a budding seamster as well. Trevino and about 40 other Preston offenders are participants in one of the most unusual programs in California's correctional system.

Regarding a jury finding Dr. Robert L. Hillyard liable for 42% of a $1.43-million award to a baby not diagnosed with a disease that left it blind (April 13): I do not work at St. Joseph Hospital nor am I on staff there. I do, however, know Dr. Robert Hillyard, a most knowledgeable, conscientious, caring neonatologist, whose career is devoted to serving the well-being and saving the lives of premature infants. These babies are born weighing as little as 800 grams, about 1 1/2 pounds, the size of a small chicken.

The common practice of giving steroids to premature infants at 2 weeks of age to help wean them from ventilators is being called into question after a large federal study found that treatment so early in the child's development increases the risk of infection and slows growth. About 7% of the infants born annually in the United States weigh less than 5.5 pounds at birth, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. About 1% weigh as little as 3.

Marcella Quezada had cuddled her tiny babies one at a time since she gave birth three weeks ago, but for the first time Monday she gathered all five in her arms at once. Breaking the reverie in appropriate infant fashion, one of the babies spit up on her. But that did not spoil the moment for Quezada, who could not stop smiling. "It's a revelation of things to come," joked the nurse who wiped up the mess.

Police arrested a 33-year-old homeless mother of nine Friday on charges of abandoning a newborn girl--weighing less than two pounds--in a South-Central Los Angeles lot. Tamara Sampson was arrested Friday when she came to the Southeast station after seeing news reports about the abandoned baby, Detective Connie Castruita said. Sampson's children live with relatives and she frequently stops by her mother's South-Central home, police say.

Emillee Young, born four months ago and way too soon, was back in a hospital incubator recently, resting after eye surgery. Her right eye covered by a patch, her fingernails tinier than bits of confetti, her left leg twitching as if from a dream, she slept. To those who have come to know this baby, she is a miracle. Weighing little more than a pound at birth, Emillee spent her first 108 days at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Bellflower before her mother took her home for a week.

A premature baby girl who weighed 12 ounces at birth Aug. 3 has reached the 1-pound milestone but remains in critical condition, a hospital spokesman said Thursday. Sheyanne Welch, who was delivered in her mother's sixth month of pregnancy, has gained about 4 ounces, said Dennis Gaschen at Martin Luther Hospital. The baby "has not tolerated feedings, so the weight she has gained has been through (intravenous feedings). For her to be gaining weight is a very good sign."

Doctors at Martin Luther Hospital said Wednesday that they continue to be "amazed" at the steady progress of a tiny, premature infant girl who weighed only 12 ounces when she was born 10 days ago. Sheyanne Danielle Welch was originally given less than a 10% chance of survival but the infant continues to beat the medical odds, said Dr. Leonard L. Fox, associate director of the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit.

An infant girl who weighed 12 ounces at birth was in stable condition Tuesday, and doctors said they are pleased with her progress. Sheyanne Danielle Welch was removed from the womb on Aug. 3 to save the life of her mother, who had been pregnant for just 24 weeks.

Fifty-one years and four months ago, Jeff Tanksley was lying in a blanket-lined drawer in the glow of a single light bulb, fighting for his life. All 26 1/2 ounces of him. Born three months premature, he created a sensation at Downey Community Hospital, where doctors and nurses--and reporters--hovered over the tiniest infant to be born up to that time in the hospital. They couldn't do much else. It was 1940 and the medical specialty that has come to be called neonatology was unknown.