MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Mississippi couple has to split their time between Tupelo, Mississippi, and Regional One Health in Memphis after being turned away from a local hospital.
The Jones family had their baby two weeks early at just 3 lbs. and 2 oz. While the couple hoped to bring the infant home for Christmas, he's still receiving care at Regional One.
This comes after a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) just 15 minutes away from the couple's home in the Magnolia State denied care because it was full.
“Someone who’s less than like thirty weeks," Regional One NICU doctor Bhuvi Jagadesan said. "They don’t know how to suck, swallow, and breathe at the same time; they don’t know how to eat.”
After dealing with fertility issues, Brooklyn Jones and her husband Grant Jones decided to adopt. Then they ended up getting pregnant with their first son two years ago.
“When we got married, we started trying to have children automatically. We didn’t. We couldn’t," Brooklyn said.
The Joneses never expected to be able to have another baby, let alone have that baby come early.
Not having access to a NICU is a common situation in more rural parts of the U.S.
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), about 60% of rural women with a premature baby give birth in a hospital without a NICU.
“It was terrifying to think about what he’s fixing to go through," Grant said. "It’s a blessing; all the doctors and nurses here have taken tremendous care of him.”