When little Isabel Hoin was born on February 8, 2003, she barely registered on the scale. At 1 pound 9 ounces, Isabel was among the tiniest of preemies. Her mother, Julie, delivered her at Lancaster General Women & Babies Hospital during only her 24th week of pregnancy.

Even though she was small in size, Isabel’s spirit and determination were huge. Fortunately she was also able to receive state-of-the-art care in the Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Women & Babies Hospital. Surrounded by a loving, supportive family and a knowledgeable, caring medical team, Isabel went home for the first time with her mom and dad long after she was born—May 11, 2003.

“We always knew she was going to make it, but we were so relieved to finally have her home with us,” Julie says.

Today Isabel is a healthy toddler who loves books and playing with her younger brother, Christian.

Julie and her husband, Jon, credit the team at Women & Babies Hospital with helping their entire family through the emotional roller coaster of having Isabel in the NICU for 92 days. Before and during Isabel’s birth, Julie was also a long-term guest—she spent 30 days in the hospital’s Special Care Unit. She came in on January 14, 2003 with pre-term labor. On January 25, she delivered Isabel’s twin brother, Ethan, who passed away shortly after he was born. Julie says she thinks Isabel must have willed herself to stay in her womb because it was almost two more weeks until she was born. As Julie was recovering from her cesarean section, Isabel was hooked up to life-saving technologies in the NICU. Friends and family appreciated being able to visit both Julie and Isabel at the same time.

“I was able to stay right with Isabel in the same facility,” Julie says. “I can’t even imagine having her in a different hospital, which I know can happen.”

As the Hoins were coping with all that was happening, they were thankful for the steady guidance of the nurses, nurse practitioners and doctors.

Jon frequently stayed overnight while Julie and Isabel were both patients. “It was as comfortable as you could get outside your own home,” he says.

The Women & Babies Hospital family-centered approach to care was evident to both Julie and Jon. They stay in touch with some team members who grew to become a type of extended family.

“They were incredibly positive,” Julie says of the Women & Babies Hospital team. “They gave us the truth, but they encouraged us to stay strong and gave us hope. They were as much a part of the experience as our family was.”

Women & Babies Hospital is an entire facility dedicated exclusively to women and their healthcare needs. Home to the county’s only Level III NICU, Women & Babies Hospital is uniquely equipped to care for the most fragile of infants. Maternal-fetal medicine specialists (perinatologists) and neonatologists are on staff and ready to handle complex pregnancies, including high-risk deliveries and multiple births. Obstetricians and anesthesiologists are in-house 24 hours a day, seven days a week throughout the year.

“While only 10 percent of all pregnancies become high-risk, it relieves an element of stress for families to know that we have the staff, the equipment and the expertise to help them in case of an emergency,” says Charles Castle, MD, Medical Director of Women & Babies Hospital. “We are able to handle almost any type of pregnancy entirely within our own facility.”

The Women & Babies Hospital team is well-prepared to handle all types of pregnancies because it’s their specialty—labor and delivery nurses provide only maternity care. Many also teach prenatal classes, which gives them a chance to meet patients before they come in to deliver their babies.

The caring continues after patients leave Women & Babies Hospital. Nurses call new moms at home to make sure everything is going well and to answer questions. Ongoing programs such as the New Parent Support Group and Baby Weight Station and Lactation Support provide networking opportunities for new moms.

For more information about the Women & Babies Hospital specialized approach to maternity care, call 544-3779 for a free prenatal packet.