A lady by the name of Perla Lewis-Truong was pregnant. The due date of her baby was March 1^st. The day right after thanksgiving, Perla was admitted to the hospital. She suffered with a severe case of preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is a disorder that involves the rapid rising of blood pressure that can put the baby and the mother at a high risk. Doctors had no choice but to deliver the baby by a cesarean section 13 weeks earlier than the expected date. The baby, Celia, came out weighing only a pound and a half. Four months later, she was lying in the Children’s Hospital of the University of California, Davis. The baby then weighed around four pounds. She was still nearly translucent but nonetheless healthy. Luckily for Celia, the hospital she was born in had a neonatal intensive care unit. There are many problems that a premature baby can face. For example, necrotizing enterocolitis is one problem. During this, the intestinal walls deteriorate allowing bacteria to invade. Nearly 25% of babies who are diagnosed with necrotizing enterocolitis die. The survivors, for years will suffer from neurological problems. A neonatologist at U.C. Davis, Mark Underwood seeks better help and treatment for his patients. Unlike most doctors, Underwood focuses his attention on diet rather than drugs. It is believed by Underwood that necrotizing enterocolitis can be prevented by just giving premature babies like Celia a cocktail of probiotics and prebiotics daily. Probiotics are healthy bacteria and prebiotics are the food that those bacteria eat. This is all inspired by human milk, which he considers the “super food.”

 

 

Information obtained at www.discovermagazine.com Pictures obtained at www.whitegadget.com and www.ucdavis.edu