Early to Life

The hospital OUH (Odense University Hospital) in Odense, Denmark, has one of the largest departments for early-born babies in my country. It is a place, where life and death are constantly present. This feature describes the universe of hope and faith at the hospital where mothers give birth to children, who have to struggle their way into life. Most of the extremely early deliveries ends up with a caesarian to protect both the mother and the child. Often the children and their parents have to spend several months at the hospital until the children are strong enough to be discharged. The early-born babies have to lie in an incubator most of the day, but sometimes when their condition is stable, they can come out of the incubator. About 10 % of all births in Denmark are early deliverys. The chances for an early-born baby are good. About 90 % percent survives. The story about early-born babies holds a lot of identification. It was my ambition to get as close to the parents at the hospital as possible, so that they would trust me to follow them close, also when the situations were critical and very emotional.