Media Contacts: 

Michael Schwartzberg, GBMC Media Relations Manager
(O): 443-849-2126/Cell: 410-258-3465/Pager: 410-389-2758

Father’s Day Holds Special Meaning For Dad of Premature Baby at GBMC

BALTIMORE, Md. – June 12, 2006 – As Father’s Day approaches, a Reisterstown family is giving new meaning to the saying, “Like father, like son.”  

Christopher Brown was born April 24, three months early. Now nearly eight-weeks old, the infant weighs three-and-a-half pounds (he’s gained two pounds since birth) and calls the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Greater Baltimore Medical Center ‘home.’  Ironically, his father, David Brown, was born six weeks premature in 1976 and also spent time at GBMC’s NICU. 

“We didn’t even think we’d be celebrating Mother’s Day or Father’s Day this year because Christopher wasn’t due until July 21,” said David Brown.  “Of course we wish he was home with us but we know that he needs to be in the NICU and that’s the best place he could possibly be.”

“It’s a difficult thing to leave Christopher at the hospital but the doctors and nurses are there to take care of him,” David Brown added.  “I don’t remember anything about when I was in the NICU but I turned out OK so that gives me a sense of security that Christopher will be OK also.”

“Plus, the technology is much better now than it was nearly 30 years ago.”

Helping pay for that technology in GBMC’s NICU have been thousands of walkers and runners, who have raised more than $610,000 over the past 17 years at the annual GBMC Father’s Day 5K/1.5 Mile Fun Run.  The 18^th annual event, coordinated by the GBMC Foundation, is scheduled for June 18 at the Sheraton Baltimore North hotel.  Entry fees for the event are $25 before race day and $30 on race day, with all the proceeds benefiting the care of hundreds of critically ill and premature infants who spend time each year in GBMC’s NICU.

Over the past 17 years, these funds have enabled the hospital to purchase equipment such as:

• Giraffe Beds – used as incubators and warmers, a computer is specially designed to reduce how often a baby needs to be moved, thus reducing stress on the infant
• Individual stethoscopes at each infant’s bedside, improving patient safety
• Kangaroo chairs – specially designed recliners to accommodate skin to skin contact between infant and caregiver
• Privacy screens for infant’s bedside to ensure family comfort
• A supply of electric breast pumps enabling all NICU families to use one if desired regardless of insurance coverage

For David Brown, who works at T. Rowe Price in Owings Mills, and wife Jennifer, a preschool teacher at Carroll Christian School in Westminster, the NICU has become a second home while they await the day when their first born child can breathe and eat on his own, signifying that he is ready to go home to Reisterstown.

“The doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists and secretaries in the NICU have all been so nice and helpful,” said Jennifer Brown. “They’ve really impacted our lives in a positive way.”

About GBMC

GBMC includes Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC), Central Maryland’s leading community hospital; Hospice of Baltimore, which provides comfort and care to patients with life-limiting illnesses; the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Community Health Center, which offers comprehensive health and family services to the residents of East Baltimore; and the GBMC Foundation, which supports the GBMC mission by managing fundraising efforts.  The 300-bed Medical Center, located on a beautiful suburban campus, serves nearly 22,000 inpatients annually and provides approximately 50,000 emergency room visits. For more information, go to www.gbmc.org

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