We celebrate every baby’s life saved, and over the past 50 years there has been much celebration at the Sheldon B. Korones Newborn Center. Since its founding in 1968, the Newborn Center has treated more than 45,000 premature babies. The dedicated nurses, physicians and other health care providers who have staffed the Newborn Center since 1968 celebrate all of these NICU Moments.

This year marks the 50th birthday of Regional One Health’s Sheldon B. Korones Newborn Center and we’re celebrating NICU Moments all year long. These NICU Moments are inspiring stories that show the heart of everyone who steps foot in the Korones Newborn Center, a long tradition made possible by Dr. Korones and the early providers 50 years ago.

Kelly, Louis and Gary Parrish

Dr. Korones was in private practice in Memphis in 1968 when he decided to devote his practice to the care of critically ill infants, founding the Newborn Center. He was one of the first neonatologists in the U.S. to bring specially trained social workers and perinatal workers to help the whole family cope with the challenges that result from a premature or critically ill newborn. The Newborn Center credits its success to a multidisciplinary approach to caring for patients, a legacy that continued when Dr. Ramasubbareddy Dhanireddy replaced the retiring Dr. Korones as medical director.

As we celebrate the NICU’s 50th birthday, we’re excited to share some of the many inspiring stories that have taken place through the years.

Stories like that of Gary and Kelly Parrish, whose rollercoaster pregnancy had a happy ending thanks to the care of our High-Risk Obstetrics team who saw baby Louis’ successful delivery before turning him over to the care of the NICU. Louis celebrated his first birthday in November, and you can read more of his story here.

The Scearces

Elizabeth Scearce was 36 weeks pregnant when her NICU Moment started. A routine ultrasound discovered her baby had fluid around his heart and lungs, and Elizabeth underwent an emergency cesarean section to deliver her baby Reid. He spent 12 days in the Newborn Center before returning home with his family. Read his story here.

Read about the Newborn Center’s clinical nurse educator, Rachel George, who spent her early days as a patient in the NICU. And meet the Halls, a London couple who chose to relocate to Memphis over New York to deliver their identical triplets.

This is just a small sampling of NICU Moments. There are thousands more, some of which we want to share over the course of the year. But we need your help. If you know someone cared for at the Sheldon B. Korones Newborn Center over the past 50 years, please visit www.regionalonehealth.org/nicu-stories/.