Print 
Share 
Text 
To reset, hold the Ctrl key, then press 0.
Baby Avalina Sousa was born at 24 weeks and spent her first 127 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The Ottawa Hospital is renovating its current NICU facilities at the General Campus to give each baby a separate room.
Sarah and Lorenzo Sousa were happily expecting their second child. Sarah Sousa was 24 weeks pregnant when she woke up at 1 a.m. on March 23, 2016, with labour pains.
Lorenzo bundled her into the car and started for the hospital. But Sarah could feel the baby’s arrival was urgent. They called 911, and an ambulance got Sarah to the hospital just in time. She was 10 centimetres dilated, and had an infection.
“There was nothing they could do to stop her from coming,” said Sarah. “The doctors told us that the baby’s chance of survival was not good, as at that stage the lungs were not yet developed enough for the baby to breathe on its own. They informed us about all the perils facing premature babies.”
At 4:46 a.m., Avalina was born, weighing only 750 grams. She was so small, so fragile and so sick. She was placed in an incubator in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), and separated from her parents by tubes and wires. This tiny little soul was fighting for her life, all by herself. But she persevered, achieving milestone after milestone, until she was healthy enough to go home to her mom, dad and big sister, Olivia.
“After 127 days, we brought our sweet baby home,” said Sarah. “Our incredible journey would not have been possible without the support of the amazing NICU doctors, nurses and staff at The Ottawa Hospital who go above and beyond the call of duty to take care of the smallest lives who enter this world too early. Our precious Avalina is a testament to their skill, commitment and compassion.”
The Ottawa Hospital is renovating its current NICU facilities at the General Campus to give each baby a separate room. This allows caregivers to individualize each small patient’s environment and provide a family-centric model of care that will also include technology and equipment updates.
A new NICU is critical for babies like Avalina to receive the best, most up-to-date treatments developed at The Ottawa Hospital. This helps give prematurely born babies the best chance at surviving, thriving and growing up.
Find out more about the hospital’s campaign to renovate and expand its NICU.
Support patient care and research at
The Ottawa Hospital
You might also like…
New reusable surgical gowns a step towards greener operating rooms
The Ottawa Hospital is finding safe, innovative ways to reduce medical waste in its operating rooms by using more environmentally sustainable products.
“Crash testers”: Preparing our health-care teams for real-life emergencies
Swapping patients for manikins, our Simulation Patient Safety Program recreates medical emergencies right in our hospital, allowing our care teams to “crash test” their responses to cardiac arrests, respiratory failures, mass casualty events and more. Dive into this Q&A for a closer look at how this training program enhances patient safety and quality of care.
Caring for your newborn and yourself: A post-birth guide for parents
Have you just given birth? Are you expecting soon? In this series of videos, Registered Nurse Samantha Adams shares essential advice for those early days at home.
2SLGBTQIA+ care at The Ottawa Hospital: A helpful guide
The Ottawa Hospital offers an array of services and resources to help meet the specific care needs of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community — including a provincial-first gender-affirming surgery clinic, a 24/7 care program for survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence, and a specialty clinic for medically complex patients seeking help on their transition journeys.
New radiation machine targets cancer with pinpoint accuracy — even as the tumour moves during treatment
“We can deliver a radiation treatment that’s exactly personalized for the patient on that day.” The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre is now one of the first in Canada to acquire the state-of-the-art MR-Linac radiation therapy system.
Baby on board: Nurses jump into action to help deliver baby during flight
When a woman went into labour in the middle of a seven-hour flight, Eunice and Lindsey immediately volunteered their services. The two neonatal intensive care nurses had to rely on their experience — and a little improvisation — to help deliver and resuscitate a baby girl.