Roughly 50 miles separate Stockton from UC Davis Children's Hospital in Sacramento, mostly along Highway 99. But the route felt much further one fateful night in June for Jazmin Quijano.
She was 22 weeks and 3 days pregnant and experiencing back labor. She went to her local hospital and was told that they weren't equipped to care for a baby that premature if she were to deliver.
UC Davis Children's Hospital was the nearest hospital that could handle such an early delivery. Its Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the highest level available, cares for premature babies as young as 22 weeks gestation.
It was after midnight when she and her partner packed up their blue Honda to drive north to UC Davis Children's Hospital.
Just over a half hour into the drive, she wondered if they would even make it. Her contractions were getting stronger and more frequent.
"By the time we got to Elk Grove, I said, 'We need to call 9-1-1,'" remembered Jazmin. Her partner worried they might not get the immediate care they needed and would be left waiting on the side of the road.
They soldiered on toward the hospital — and almost made it.
Near the 12th Avenue freeway exit in South Sacramento, Jazmin felt a rush of warm fluid.
Their baby girl was born in the front passenger seat.
Firefighters to the rescue
The baby was still in its amniotic sac, when Jazmin called 9-1-1 and connected with the emergency dispatcher who assured her that first responders were on their way. The dispatcher then walked her through the steps to break the sac and perform CPR on her baby. Jazmin, a mother for the first time, wrapped her baby in a sweatshirt to keep her warm.
Of all the medical emergencies that Sacramento Fire Department Engine 6 responds to, this one stood out.
"The call came in at 2 a.m. Most of us have had labor and delivery calls, but not for someone this premature," said Engine 6 Capt. David Fike, who was called to the scene that morning.
Firefighter Eric Chin said it was extremely stressful once they realized the nature of the call.
"We knew we had to get there quick," Chin said.
Five firefighters arrived within five minutes.
Chin opened the car's front passenger door and Jazmin transferred the tiny baby, about the size of a pear, into his hands.
Once in the ambulance, the team continued to perform CPR, gently using just one finger on the baby's delicate chest. They cranked up the heat to keep the ambulance warm. They dried the baby using towels and absorbent pads.
"Those initial moments matter," said Fike.
The firefighters called ahead to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit team at UC Davis Children's Hospital so they were prepared to receive the patient when they arrived.
In our own controlled environment with the NICU, it can be challenging to maintain thermoregulation in extremely preterm infants. It is incredible what EMS did to get the baby here safely. It made all the difference."-Janelle Beall
"When EMS brought the baby to our Emergency Department, the baby had a good temperature and a good chest rise," said Janelle Beall, UC Davis neonatal nurse manager.
The Emergency Department and neonatology teams took over resuscitation efforts. The baby was then transferred to the NICU, where the staff praised the life-saving work of the firefighters.
"In our own controlled environment with the NICU, it can be challenging to maintain thermoregulation in extremely preterm infants," Beall said. "It is incredible what EMS did to get the baby here safely. It made all the difference."
Once in the NICU, the baby was placed on high-frequency ventilation for premature lungs and given epinephrine through an IV to increase her heart rate.
The right place for this 22-week baby
The small baby unit in the UC Davis NICU was designed to care for preterm infants as young as 22 weeks gestation, and has a survival rate over double the national average.
"UC Davis is a fantastic place for babies born at 22 weeks gestation because we have a focused approach, a dedicated unit and a team that is committed to try to take care of these really small babies," said Steven McElroy, chief of neonatology at UC Davis Children's Hospital.
UC Davis Children's Hospital was ranked 26th nationally in neonatology by U.S. News & World Report's Best Children's Hospitals rankings.
"For babies that are 22 weeks, there are only certain centers across the nation that are equipped to try to take care of them," McElroy said.
Currently, in the U.S., the youngest age that hospitals can keep a baby alive is at 22 weeks gestation. Nationally, the survival rate for babies born at 22 weeks is between 10-20%. At the UC Davis NICU, the survival rate is 50% for babies born at 22 weeks, said McElroy.
UC Davis is a fantastic place for babies born at 22 weeks gestation because we have a focused approach, a dedicated unit and a team that is committed to try to take care of these really small babies."-Steven McElroy
Babies born at 22 weeks are only halfway through development, with 40 weeks as the normal gestation period for humans. All organ systems are not yet developed.
Jazmin's baby spent 146 days in the UC Davis NICU. She was cared for by a team of dedicated neonatologists, NICU nurses, NICU-focused dietitians, respiratory therapists and pharmacists.
Words of gratitude from a new mother
Jazmin's baby girl was named Daleyza, which Jazmin said means "strength." It's a name that she has earned in the nearly five months she spent in the NICU.
She was 1 pound, 1 ounce at birth. Thanks to the care she received, Daleyza was nearly 8 pounds when she was discharged from the hospital in November, just in time for Thanksgiving.
Jazmin said that the UC Davis NICU team has become a second family to her.
"Not all family is blood relatives. There is the family that you make and these doctors and nurses are my family," Jazmin said.
Jazmin is eternally grateful to the firefighters who came to her rescue on the night of Daleyza's birth.
"I'm always going to thank them for whatever they did for her. They took care of her, and thanks to them and the UC Davis team, Daleyza is here today," Jazmin said. "There are no words to express how thankful we are."
