Spring comes early for Tucson couple: quintuplets born at Banner Good Samaritan
PHOENIX (March 20, 2009) – The arrival of the Puig quintuplets from Tucson, Ariz., this week reminds us that Spring is the time to celebrate new life.
The five babies – three girls and two boys – were born at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center between 5:38 p.m. and 5:42 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18, to Lorena Puig and husband, Enrique, following a 29-week pregnancy.*
The Puig quintuplets had a total birthweight of 11 pounds, 6 ounces, according to Dr. John Elliott, Lorena’s perinatologist and an expert in the delivery of high-order multiples. The delivery was performed by Dr. Brianne Kling, a second-year Obstetrics and Gynecology resident, with Dr. Elliott in attendance.
Lorena and Enrique are the new parents of:
BABY GIRL A, Anna Sophia; 2 lbs, 8 oz; 5:38 p.m.
BABY GIRL B, Alessandra; 2 lbs, 4 oz; 5:39 p.m.
BABY BOY C, André; 2 lbs, 6 oz; 5:40 p.m.
BABY GIRL D, Abby; 2 lbs, 3 oz; 5:41 p.m.
BABY BOY E, Joshua; 2 lbs, 1.7 oz; 5:42 p.m.
“This is amazing,” Enrique said shortly after the birth of their children. “After a very long wait and our journey through this miraculous pregnancy, this has been the best experience of our lives.”
“The doctors and nurses are the best medical team I’ve seen,” Lorena said. “Everyone was there with words of encouragement for us and you could tell it was heartfelt. Even though I was in surgery, they made me feel like I was visiting Disneyland.”
Dr. Elliott, and the nursing staffs at Banner Good Samaritan and Phoenix Children’s Hospital, have developed an international reputation for their care and management of women delivering high-order multiples (triplets or more). Banner Good Samaritan has delivered more than 90 sets of quadruplets, quintuplets and sextuplets.
Most of the quadruplets and quintuplets delivered at Banner Good Samaritan have come to Phoenix from another part of the country. This is thought to be more sets of high-order multiples than has been delivered at any other hospital in the U.S., and perhaps the world. Banner Good Samaritan is also a national referral center for many other kinds of high-risk obstetrical cases.
Dr. Elliott was profiled on Newsweek.com in February (“The Baby Keeper”) and in the April 2009 “Top Docs” issue of Phoenix Magazine (“Baby Einstein”) based on his extensive clinical experience and notable outcomes with multiple births. The Newsweek.com feature rated among the site’s top stories and was also picked up by MSNBC.com and various parenting and multiples sites. See the content at http://www.newsweek.com/id/182355.
Following delivery, the Puig babies are being cared for by Phoenix Children’s Hospital’s neonatology specialists. The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), located inside Banner Good Samaritan, is operated by Phoenix Children’s Hospital. The connection between the two hospitals means mom can recover at Banner Good Sam, but remain only a quick wheelchair ride away from her babies.
Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center has been providing medical care to Arizona and the Southwest since 1911. Banner Good Samaritan is owned and operated by Phoenix-based Banner Health, a not-organization, and is a flagship hospital within the system. The hospital was named to U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Hospitals” list for Gynecology, Heart and Heart Surgery, Kidney Disease and Digestive Disorders. Banner Good Samaritan has been recognized as a Magnet™ facility by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the highest honor a hospital can earn for its nursing care and practices, and has been named one of the Best Places to Work in the Valley by The Phoenix Business Journal and BestCompaniesAZ in 2007 and 2008 and one of the “Top 100 Hospitals to Work For” by Nursing Professionals magazine.
* Thirty-eight to 40 weeks is considered full-term in a singleton pregnancy.
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Contact:
Banner Good Samaritan Public Relations
(602) 239-4411
