Preemie Born to 15-Year-Old Mother, A YANA Family From Decades Past

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Originally published by the Comox Valley Record – April 7, 2021

Andrea Postal, Client Services, YANA.  Special to the Record

It was spring of 1994, and Megan Lacourse, at just 15 years old, had recently moved out of her parent’s home and was awaiting the arrival of her first son, when she went into labour and found herself at St.Joseph’s hospital months earlier than planned. Days later and still in Comox, her son Andrew was born in a footling breech presentation, weighing in at only 2lbs 7oz.

Andrew required help breathing, and Megan recalls the pediatrician working to keep him ventilated for more than 3 hours while they waited for the transport helicopter to arrive.

“The pediatrician here hand ventilated my son from 8:40 in the morning. They ended up flying him to Victoria, originally it was going to be Vancouver, but he was stronger than they thought he was going to be.”

While Andrew was getting medical attention at the NICU in Victoria, Megan was trying to figure out how she was going to stay and care for her son who was now 4 hours away along the old island highway, in another city. She’d heard about YANA through a friend, but it was a nurse at the hospital that first connected her with YANA’s support.

“The nurses at the nurses’ station gave me an envelope, and it had $50 from YANA and a toothbrush,” Megan explains. It was that $50 that was the start of what would be ongoing help from YANA to ensure she could travel to and stay in Victoria with her son every weekend for the 52 days he remained in the Victoria General Hospital.

“Basically we would leave every Thursday night, and go to Victoria and then come back Sunday night or Monday morning”, says Megan. “In the meantime, our vehicle broke down, so YANA supported us by paying for our hotels, as well as renting us a vehicle”.

YANA’s funding and accommodation programs provide support for about 70-80 pregnant women and infants under 1 each year. These families find themselves relocated for medical care in Nanaimo, Victoria, or Vancouver due to the limitations on Comox Valley Hospital’s ability to provide support for preterm births. Many of these families learn about YANA through the Hospital Emergency Funding Program which puts no-strings-attached funds and information about YANA, into the hands of parents who are sent out of the community from the Comox Valley Hospital, much like the envelope Megan received when her son was born.

This first point of contact, and the care and support that happens after families are set up with YANA, makes a tremendous impact both financially and emotionally for families, and this was no exception for Megan and her son.

Megan shares, “It was amazing for us. I mean, I grew up here, it’s always been a great community. But to have the solid knowing that every week we had somewhere to stay. It made it so that the financial end of it really was not an issue for us at all. Money was certainly not something we had a lot of. I honestly don’t know how we would have managed it.”

After nearly 3 months in Victoria, Andrew was released home back to the Comox Valley, and Megan emphasized how lucky he was to do so well. “He had a really smooth ride for what it could have been, considering how premature he was.”

YANA’s support didn’t end there. After returning home, YANA continued to look out for Megan and her son by providing resources to support her as a new, young mother. “They helped connect me with other services,” she explains, “there were other organizations that brought me a baby bath and bags of clothes and gift certificates, so it was more than the travel back and forth and somewhere to stay, it was connections with other organizations that were able to help us.”

Fast forward almost 3 decades, Andrew is the eldest of 5 siblings and is living and working in the Comox Valley. Beaming with a mother’s pride, Megan shares that he’s doing well. “He’ll be 27 in April, he’s a hairstylist at Chatters. He’s great.”

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