Where are all these people coming from – those in the lines of cars and trucks and more trucks on Broughton and 301 and Boulevard and Chestnut?

One answer is our hospital, the Regional Medical Center, where every year 1,500 new babies are yowling their way into families from Dorchester, Calhoun, Barnwell, Bamberg and, of course, Orangeburg counties.

What’s more, nearly all are here to stay, with, fortunately, only four or five dying in infancy. In 16 to 20 years, the others will be driving those thousands of vehicles. This doesn’t include babies who aren’t born in the hospital.

Boys or girls?

“The count between males and females is about even,” says Peggy Callahan, RMC nurse director of maternal and child health. “On days when we have a run of only one or the other, our 25 nurses on the ward exclaim: ‘We’re having an all boy (girl) week!’”

The kind of week it has been is obvious when one of the surgeons comes to do circumcisions and the lines of bassinets outside the operating room all have blue identification tags, she said.

“They go home with their mothers after two or three days and a last medical checkup. Very few have to come back unless they contract one of the baby illnesses,” Callahan says. “Even then, it’s usually one of the infections that invade so many. About 30 are here at the moment; 150 to 200 since last July.”

Big three for infants

“The most prevalent (illness in infants) is probably gastroenteritis (stomachache),” Callahan says. “A baby begins vomiting, suffering from regular diarrhea, or showing dehydration. Brought to us, we give it intravenous fluids or sometimes extra sugars because its blood sugar needs increase. They don’t need medication – just time and the fluids. Most of them can go home in one to five days.”

She said the second most frequent baby illness is asthma.

“More of a cold-weather sickness, it frequently attacks children with colds or flu. Patients, most often children, wheeze as they exhale. Mucous has gradually built up and clogged their airways,” Callahan said. “Among its many causes is cigarette smoke. Antibiotics are far and away its best cure.”

The third most prevalent illness affecting infants is pneumonia, she said.

“As you can see, these are illnesses that have been around a long time – this one being pneumonia, or lung infection. Its visible signs closely resemble those of a severe cold. Here again, antibiotics are its best cure, but requiring three to 10 days of treatment to get a little baby well. For a truly serious infection, this may take three weeks.”

Rare, serious afflictions

An extremely serious illness occasionally occurs in a baby. Dr. Charles Kilgore, staff pediatric hospitalist, tells of a recent case in which an infant suffered with extremely difficult breathing. The child’s mother thought stomach trouble might be the cause. As the staff ran test after test, the doctor began to suspect a heart problem.

When the infant’s situation worsened, Kilgore decided to call the Charleston Children’s Hospital and ask for assistance. They agreed to accept the child, and an ambulance rushed the baby to the Port City. Several days of x-rays and examinations later, Kilgore’s suspicion proved correct. Two big holes disfigured the infant’s heart, Surgery and weeks of extreme care followed, and the child recovered.

Fortunately, such sick, young ones are rare. Most of the nursery care is routine. At the RMC, 15 nurses feed, bottle, give medications, bathe and re-diaper all day. Think of the routine of the average mother; then multiply that by 25.

During the night, 10 nurses are necessary to handle more changes, more feeding AND the outcry when a baby wakes up, yowls and awakens a half dozen other infants who also begin to cry.

Noted Callahan, “Of course, there are the tiny, miserable ones who have had arms or legs broken in falls. Or MRSA, methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (a medical mouthful), on its body – an infection very resistant to most antibiotics. We have special medication.”

“No matter,” she says, “these are the small and helpless who charm all our hearts. They come to us very sick, but nearly always recover in half the time required by adults.

Helping them brings as much satisfaction as can be found anywhere in the medical profession.”

Retired editor and public relations executive Thomas Langford’s column is titled “Some Edisto Stories.” Let him know if you have stories to share: 803-534-2097.

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