PROJECT SPECIAL DELIVERY
We want to thank all our donors and supporters of project special delivery for all your generous donations. You have helped us raise $90,000 for the Women, Children and Obstetrical Unit at the Central Newfoundland Regional Health Centre. “Project Special Delivery” will ensure every baby born at our regional hospital has the best possible start to a healthy life.
“Project Special Delivery” will support the purchase of:
Infant Resuscitation Unit – mobile standalone resuscitation system
Blanket Warmer – for new moms in labour
Medication Infusion Pump – to administer medications and nutrients
Nara Bassinets – to facilitate mother-baby closeness
Biliblanket & Bilimeter – to treat jaundice
Your donations will now give a fragile newborn the chance to grow up healthy and happy.
Thank you to Janessa Penton, Brandon Durnford and Baby Brooklyn - and all their supporters of the family's two fundraisers in support of Project Special Delivery. Janessa's GoFundMe page raised $5,000, and her 50/50 Ticket Draw raised over $6,000, to help purchase a new Infant Resuscitation Unit for babies born in distress! Janessa survived an Amniotic Fluid Embolism on September 1st, 2021, following the birth of her daughter, Brooklyn. She shared their story of survival in her own words:
September 1, 2021 I gave birth to my beautiful baby girl. I was dilated 8cm when the fetal heart rate began to decrease and our girl was in distress. I was scheduled for an emergency Caesarean section. Brooklyn was born lifeless with no pulse. She was taken away and CPR was initiated and continued for 17 minutes at which point her pulse returned. Brooklyn was intubated and hooked up to a ventilator that was helping her breathe, while she awaited transport to the Neonatal Intensive care Unit (NICU) at Janeway Children’s Hospital.
Following Brooklyn’s delivery, I was brought to recovery and then transferred to the obstetrics unit. My blood pressure remained low and my heart rate remained high after her delivery. I began to deteriorate drastically. I was in and out of consciousness and was transferred to the ICU. I went into cardiac arrest and CPR was initiated for 4 minutes. I was intubated and placed on a ventilator just like my baby girl. I had extensive fluid resuscitation and a total of 18 units of blood. I had multiple IVs, a nasogastric tube, and a catheter. It was determined that I needed to be transferred to the Health Science Centre to continue extensive and emergent life-saving treatment that I was unable to receive at my home hospital. My baby girl and I were airlifted to St. John’s, NL.
I arrived at the Health Science Centre unstable and in critical condition. A team of seven doctors was waiting for me when I arrived. I spent three days in the ICU and was then transferred to the obstetrics unit where I was released from nine days later. When Brooklyn arrived at the NICU, she was placed in a thermal jacket for 72 hours to decrease her body temperature. She spent seven weeks in the NICU under the care of a neonatologist, cardiologist and neurologist. Brooklyn had multiple MRIs of her brain, EEGs, echocardiograms, and ultrasounds during her stay at the NICU. She left the NICU with a feeding tube which she no longer requires and she is thriving!
Recovery was very hard, both mentally and physically. Two months have passed and I am just getting back to myself and we are finally home as a family.
Thank you, Janessa, for sharing your story of survival and recovery with our community.