Baby Virk’s First Breath

The first breath a baby takes is the biggest and most important of his or her life. But what happens when that breath doesn’t come naturally?

Baby Virk was born 12 weeks premature via an emergency C-section at Burnaby Hospital. At such a premature age, Baby Virk’s lungs were underdeveloped, and he was unable to adequately breathe on his own. This required immediate intervention from our neonatal resuscitation team. Once Baby Virk had a breathing tube in place, he was placed on a neonatal ventilator in the intensive care unit – a piece of equipment Burnaby Hospital has thanks to funding support from TB Vets.

Proper oxygen flow at safe pressures are of critical importance in developing lungs and survival in premature babies. The Leoni Ventilator made possible by TB Vets was able to safely and effectively breathe for Baby Virk until he could be transferred to Children’s Hospital for additional care. Without this piece of equipment, medical staff at Burnaby Hospital would have been unable to stabilize Baby Virk, thus putting his fragile lungs at greater risk for life-threatening complications.

About one in ten newborns struggle to start breathing, and need respiratory support immediately after birth. Burnaby Hospital Foundation is extremely grateful to organizations like TB Vets who help ensure we have the equipment we need for all of our patients – even the tiniest.