Before Ayla was born, she had already made history. Last year at The Ottawa Hospital, she received a world-first in-utero treatment for Pompe disease, a rare genetic disorder that had taken the lives of two of her siblings. Now 17 months old, Ayla is healthy and happy.

Dr. Kumanan Wilson and his team have a novel approach to finding out how often babies are born preterm in low-resource countries. They’re using data collected from routine newborn blood tests and they’ve received nearly US $1 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support their research.

Extremely premature babies born between 22 and 25 weeks’ gestational age are at high risk of dying and physical disabilities. A NICU team advocated for a shared decision-making process to help parents make informed decisions about whether they want their extremely premature baby to receive intensive care or palliative care.

Some of The Ottawa Hospital’s smallest patients have a new home. The Special Care Nursery at the Civic Campus recently moved into a new space, just across the hall. Not only does this new space provide a safe, quiet environment for these little patients, but it also offers parents more space and privacy, as they watch over their little ones.

Avalina Sousa was born 17 weeks early, weighing 750 grams, and spent her first 127 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. With the extraordinary care she received, she achieved milestone after milestone, until she was healthy enough to go home.

Dr. Bernard Thébaud and his team are hoping to harness stem cells from umbilical cords to treat chronic lung diseases in extremely premature babies like Olivia Eberts.