Erica Mensah gave birth to Elijah when she was only 22 weeks pregnant. He weighed 14 ounces, making him the smallest baby that the Maimonides Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) has ever cared for.
Elijah has been under the attentive, round-the-clock care of our NICU teams since June, and he now weighs a healthy 7.5 pounds and is ready to go home with his parents, just in time for the holiday season.
“There’s no question, it’s a miracle,” says Dr. Alok Bhutada, chief of newborn medicine at Maimonides Children’s Hospital.
Children’s Hospital staff and doctors put together a festive graduation ceremony for Elijah and his parents to celebrate the momentous occasion of Elijah leaving the NICU.
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About Maimonides Health
Maimonides Health is Brooklyn’s largest healthcare system, providing more than 1 million patient visits each year through the system’s three hospitals, 1,800+ physicians, and more than 80 community-based practices and outpatient centers. Our system is anchored by Maimonides Medical Center, one of the nation’s largest independent teaching hospitals and home to centers of excellence in numerous specialties; Maimonides Midwood Community Hospital (formerly New York Community Hospital), a 130-bed adult medical–surgical hospital; and Maimonides Children’s Hospital, Brooklyn’s only children’s hospital and only pediatric trauma center.
Maimonides’ clinical programs rank among the best in the country for patient outcomes, including our Heart and Vascular Institute, Neurosciences Institute, Bone and Joint Center, and Cancer Center. For additional information, please visit www.maimo.org and follow us on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.