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Families of preemies hold annual reunion at Taipei hospital

Yeh Wan-yu, second right, and a nurse at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital yesterday hold Yeh's triplets, who were born prematurely at the hospital. One of three girls, Su Chien-hui, second left, only weighed 758g at birth. The hospital arranged a gathering yesterday for premature babies born there in the past decade. PHOTO: CHIEN JUNG-FONG, TAIPEI TIMES

More than 30 families whose babies once stayed at Taipei Veterans' General Hospital's (TVGH) premature ward returned to the hospital yesterday for an annual reunion.

Because of its size and facilities, risky pregnancies are often referred to TVGH, with up to one-third of babies delivered in the hospital considered premature to some degree, said Cheng Ya-hui (鄭雅慧), deputy head nurse of the newborn intensive unit.

"This annual event is a chance for parents to meet other families with preemies and support each other," Cheng said.

"We also have doctors and staff on hand to give out advice on helping premature babies grow up to be healthy children and adults," she said.

Many children suffer lasting effects from being born prematurely, Cheng said.

"With modern medicine, we can do a lot more for them than we used to," she said. "But it is still important that parents are prepared for the possible lasting effects."

Two-year-old Lu Chi-an (盧祈安) weighed just 698g when she was delivered at just 25 weeks.

"I cried when I saw them because they looked like aliens."

Yeh Wan-yu, mother of three premature babies

"She looked so little. I thought to myself, how is it possible?" her father, Lu Guang-hau (盧廣豪), said.

His daughter could not leave the ward until she was six months old and weighed 2,000g -- still less than the average new born.

Lu Guang-hau said that when doctors told him of the possible complications his daughter might experience because she was born prematurely, he wondered whether she could have a good, normal life.

And while her development may be delayed compared to other infants of her age, Lu said he was happy that she is normal.

"If you consider the day she left the hospital as her birthday, then she's not really delayed [compared to others]," Lu said.

Yeh Wan-yu (葉宛渝), a 24-year-old mother of triplets, recounted her experience of giving birth to preemies.

Yeh, 27 weeks into her pregnancy then, was in a night market when she went into premature labor. She gave birth the next day to three identical girls.

"I cried when I saw them because they looked like aliens," Yeh said.

The girls, just 27 weeks along, were wrinkled, connected to a number of tubes and still covered in downy fetal body hair.

Unlike Lu Chi-an, Yeh's daughters did suffer some effects as a result of being born prematurely, including underdeveloped lungs and weaker left eyes that require daily rehabilitation.

"I can't help but wonder if I could have done things differently so they would not have been born prematurely," she said.
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