Few things are as frightening to a pregnant woman as the feeling of labor contractions weeks before her due date. Because the unborn baby needs as much time as possible to grow and develop within the mom and get the nutrients it needs, premature labor can be frightening and pose a risk to the unborn baby. Although doctors can do some things to help mom lower her risk of premature birth, no amount of medical school study can train a doctor to stop nature from running her course.
If the baby comes, all the doctors can do to prepare for it is their best. When Pixie was born, though, things didn’t look good. She only weighed 1.1 pounds and at week 28 of the pregnancy came into the world. She was delivered to the Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, England through an emergency C-section. And her mother, Sharon Grant, was horrified at the early arrival of Pixie in the world.
Being three months, premature meant that Pixie’s life was in danger. She had not developed enough to be healthy and sound. But due to issues in the womb related to the umbilical cord and the placenta, doctors decided she had better chances of surviving if she was delivered and helped outside of mom’s body
After the C-section, the doctors helping her did not think Pixie would survive. They gave her an hour to live and told mom to prepare for the worst case scenario. Pixie was so tiny she could fit into the palm of mom’s hand.
Because the hospital did not have equipment tiny enough to care for the premature infant, the doctors had to get creative. That meant they had to look beyond their experience in the medical field for potential solutions that could work for such a small child. They decided that the optimal way to keep the baby warm was to use a sandwich bag they bought from the local supermarket called Tesco, which was not far from the hospital.
“It was so random that they had her in the Tesco bag. It must have just been what the operating theater had at the time,” Grant said to The Telegraph after she snapped a photo of her tiny Pixie in the sandwich bag.
Although the method might have been a bit strange, Grant did not care. She was just thrilled to see her tiny baby making it in the world despite the doctors doubting that she had a chance in the world
Premature babies have very thin skin and need protection from the elements. The clean plastic bag proved to be the perfect remedy. It kept germs away from Pixie and also helped insulate her and keep her warm, both of which are very important at that stage in her life.
The plastic bag method often gets used for premature babies under 3.3 pounds, the Neonatology Consultant said of Pixie.
Despite the long odds, Pixie survived, in thanks partly to a plastic sandwich bag. Now she’s doing great and is healthy.
