A BABY born at 26 weeks on New Year’s Eve at Terang has returned home for the first time since his birth.
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Jack O’Neill spent two-and-a-half months in Melbourne and further time at Geelong and Warrnambool hospitals before heading home to Noorat.
He joins mum Jasmine Etherington and dad John O’Neill and big sisters Lahnii, 2½, and Gracie, 16 months.
Jack was born at Terang hospital, before he was rushed to Melbourne.
Ms Etherington had presented to the hospital not knowing she was in labour and after the birth, Jack had breathing difficulties.
“By 4.30pm I was at the hospital having contractions,” Ms Etherington said.
“It was scary. I held on for an hour-and-a-half and gave birth just before the paediatrician (Christian Fiedler) arrived.”
Dr Fiedler, from Warrnambool Base Hospital, made the flying trip to Terang and arrived just seven minutes after Jack was born.
“The team there at Terang had done absolutely everything right,” he told The Standard in January.
“The baby was nice and warm, the temperature was good and they were ventilating the baby. They just needed a bit of expertise to intubate the baby – they hadn’t done that yet.
“The baby was quite pink and moving around, but it had breathing difficulties. Within five minutes, it had improved.”
Jack only weighed about 800 grams.
Newborn Emergency Transport Services (NETS) flew to Warrnambool from Essendon and then arrived at Terang via ambulance.
Jack was then driven back to Warrnambool and flown to Melbourne.
Ms Etherington thanked Dr Fiedler, Dr Amsa Kishantha and staff at Terang and Mortlake Health Services, and the wider community, for their support and assistance during the past three months.
“Jack is doing well now,” she said. “It was a long road.”
Nurse unit manager Sarah Williams said it was the first time in more than 30 years a baby had been born so prematurely at the hospital.
