Bitter-sweet farewell for healthy baby Tayla Grace

After spending the first 75 days of her life at Netcare Alberlito Hospital, it was a bitter-sweet farewell for staff and family as baby Tayla Grace Kruger of Ballito went home for the first time.

Born on June 10, Tayla Grace weighed a meagre 995 grams when she greeted her parents, Elrize and Jason for the first time.

Also read: Mothers rally for Ballito prem baby

Diagnosed with extreme intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), a condition in which a baby’s growth slows or stops while in the womb, Tayla had to be delivered at only 31 weeks.

After her birth Elrize Kruger, Tayla’s mother, was unable to produce enough colostrum to feed her fragile little baby and the tiny neonate’s weight dropped to just 805 grams within a few days.

After an article was posted on The Courier’s website, it was shared 971 times on Facebook and donations started pouring in.

Word quickly spread and Elrize received more than 200 calls and texts from mom’s around KZN, as well as Johannesburg, offering to donate.

Netcare also stepped up to supply donor colostrum and human milk from their Ncelisa human milk bank facilities to provide Tayla with the much needed boost which would not only help her to survive but to gain sufficient weight.

“Babies who are compromised in some way or another receive the most benefit from age appropriate human milk, particularly colostrum, and this can play an invaluable role in speeding up growth and recovery, ensuring these babies can go home to their families much sooner,” said Sr Eloise Strydom, unit manager of Netcare Alberlito’s neonatal ICU.

In addition to colostrum and human milk, baby Tayla was kept in a protective ‘bubble’, with her incubator being covered with a layer of cling film, to assist in keeping her warm and shielding her from noise and light.

Commenting on the sometimes difficult road she travelled with the neonatal nursing staff and baby Tayla, Kruger said she was overjoyed to finally be able to take her daughter – now weighing 2,1 kg – home.

“I cannot thank the nursing staff enough for all the care and support they showed our family. The work these nurses do can only be described as phenomenal.

“Not only do they treat these babies as they would their own, but the advice and encouragement they give to the families plays an invaluable role in lessening the burden on a seemingly long and difficult journey,” said Kruger.

“Despite her time outside the womb, Tayla is in real time just three weeks old, but thanks to the colostrum and human milk, she is as plump as any neonate can be.”

The hospital has also supplied Kruger with an additional human milk supply.

“Going forward I am tremendously excited about the fact that we now have access to donated colostrum for the first time, and baby Tayla is living proof that it can make a real difference in assisting compromised babies to grow and thrive until they reach the stage that they are strong enough to go home,” said Sr Strydom.

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