Adult Micro Preemie Survivor, Christina Gagnon
Christina Gagnon was born at 25 weeks gestation, weighing just 1 pound, eight ounces. Now, this is incredible in its own right but Christina was born in 1986 when micro preemies of her birthweight and gestational age only had a 14% chance of survival, and of the few that did survive, often suffered the effects of extreme prematurity throughout their lives: blindness, asthma, cerebral palsy, and many others. In comparison, a baby born like Christina today would have an 80% chance of survival, or better and that fact is mainly due to the advances in research and technology that are afforded the modern-day NICU. Thankfully, Christina escaped many of the problems I just listed but still suffers from chronic sinus infections, PTSD, asthma, and a mild communication deficit. And the key word there is mild; I found her to be intelligent, intuitive, and very well-spoken. I love how she describes her mom, her life-long advocate, as a warrior! And her message to adult micro preemies? Consider writing a book, as she has, because the world needs to hear your perspective. In the five-minute snippet: she really is a Swiftie! For Christina's bio, visit my website (link below).
Preemie Voices by Saroj Saigal
Shriner's Children's Hospitals (Christina had her scar revision surgery here)
Preemie World Newsletter (Christina was featured with her Neonatologist)
NIDCAP: Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program
Trauma-Informed Care in the NICU by Mary Coughlin
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