Australia's earliest preterm surviving baby set to be home for Christmas

While Stevie O’Reilly, born at just 22 weeks and two days and believed to be the most premature baby in Australia ever to survive, lies snugly in her neonatal cot in her hometown of Perth, the neonatal team at Townsville University Hospital (TUH), where Stevie was born four-and-a-half months early, is celebrating her latest milestone.

TUH director of neonatology Dr Gary Alcock, who was part of the team that cared for Stevie and her twin brother Adrian, who sadly died 18 days after birth, said he believed she was a record breaker.

“Twenty-two weeks is very, very early; most babies born at less than 23 weeks don’t survive,” he said.

“I didn’t think she would be born alive; to see her today is nothing short of miraculous.”

The incredible back story belongs to Stevie’s mother Bree Basille who was pregnant with the twins when she boarded a flight with her family, partner Jake and children Isaac, Summer, and Harlow, on July 13, for a holiday in Cairns.

Arriving at their city accommodation, Ms Basille horrifyingly realised she was already in pre-term labour.

The next few days were a blur of steroid injections, antibiotics, and an urgent medical transfer to Townsville as doctors desperately tried to keep the twins in utero as long as possible.

Stevie and Adrian were born two days after Ms Basille arrived at TUH, on July 17, weighing a breathtaking 500g and 520g respectively.

“Even though they were so very small, not once did I think anything other than ‘they’re our babies and we’re completely in love with them’,” Ms Basille said.

Both babies were transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit in a critical condition and intubated to keep their airways open.

Ms Basille said while losing their little boy was heartbreaking, the neonatal team made sure the family had precious time together and a chance to say a proper goodbye.

“We were told the day before that Adrian wasn’t going to make it, so we stayed at his bedside, holding him, loving him, doing everything we wished we could do in the outside world,” she said.

“He loved it, too.

“We also had our first and only twin cuddles.”

While bravely dealing with the loss of their little boy, Bree and Jake put all their passion and energy into baby Stevie.

Their warrior girl spent the next 14 weeks battling sepsis, a dangerous complication of infection that can lead to organ failure or death, a collapsed lung, and necrotising enterocolitis (NEC), a serious intestinal disease in preterm babies that causes bowel tissue to die.

“When Stevie developed sepsis, within hours of us losing Adrian, I don’t think anyone in the unit thought she would make it,” Ms Basille said.

“But after everything that we had gone through, the doctors and nurses fought so hard to keep her there for us.

“Later when she needed emergency surgery for NEC, I was in a flood of tears.

“Gary just came over to me and said, ‘I’ll see you both tomorrow’,” she said.

“No one would give up on her.”

Dr Alcock said Stevie was a fighter with everyone in the unit clambering to look after her.

“We were amazed that she recovered from the bowel perforation, she did amazingly well with no other significant complications,” he said.

“Full credit goes to our paediatric surgeon Dr Brendan O’Connor who repaired Stevie’s bowel in a single operation that ensure her recovery was smooth and she avoided many of the serious complications we see in premature babies who have had bowel surgery.”

After more than three months at TUH, a ‘very long time’ according to Dr Alcock, Stevie was stable enough to be medivaced back to Perth.

A medical and nursing team from King Edward Memorial Hospital travelled to Townsville last month transferring her back to the Perth where she continues to be cared for in the hospital’s neonatal unit.

“Now that we’re back in Perth, at home and with family, we’re able to fully reflect on the past few months and can focus on getting Stevie home, hopefully in time for Christmas,” Ms Basille said.

She said Townsville and the neonatal team at TUH would always hold a special place in her heart.

“I’m overcome with gratitude for all of them, especially the neonatal team,” she said.

“I’ve thought about it a lot and I truly believe we were meant to be in Townsville for the birth of our babies.

“The hospital put its arms around us, my daughter attended school at the hospital school, and the staff at Ronald McDonald House were amazing.

“If I’ve learned anything from this experience it’s that babies are stronger than we can ever comprehend and that there are many, many good people in the world.”

Ms Basille said she believed Stevie had been kept earthside to fulfill a higher promise.

“She has chronic lung disease from being born so early but I’m very optimistic about her future and can’t wait to see what she will do in life,” she said.

Dr Alcock paid tribute to the entire team that cared for Stevie.

“Stevie was looked after by almost the whole neonatal team and it was hard for all of us to say goodbye when the family returned to Perth,” he said.

“I’m proud of our care of Stevie, Adrian and their family.”