FORT SMITH - It has been nearly five months since Fort Smith resident Candace Culver gave birth to a beautiful baby girl weighing only 1 pound on September 6th at 5:47 am. With the help of the exceptional staff at Mercy Hospital, Kaizley, now weighing 7 pounds 6 ounces will get to go home.
In 2017 10.9% of all live births in the State of Arkansas, and 9.2 % in Sebastian County were preterm. A preterm birth is defined as a live birth occurring before 37 completed weeks of gestation. Kaizley was born at only 24 weeks due to Candace developing Placenta Previa.
There are many health concerns with being born early, Kaizley had to wear casts on her legs during her stay at the hospital to adjust her leg position. Now Kaizley’s major concerns are chronic lung disease, which she will reportedly grow out of soon, and respiratory problems.
Candace reached out to Inside Ft. Smith to share her story in hopes of maybe helping other families going through similar situations. “Although things seem dark at the beginning.. never lose faith.”, Culver said, “As long as your baby is fighting, you fight too!”
The great staff at Mercy that Culver credits with saving her daughter’s life include: Dr. Coloso, their neonatologist, and four nurses that went above and beyond to comfort, inform, and assure Candace and her family that although the journey would be a hard one, that everything was going to be okay.
