Stafford Hospital welcomed its first 33-week gestation baby to the newly expanded Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in December 2022.

The hospital told us today the child, Bellamy Scotlyn was born on December 23, 2022, weighing 4 pounds, 5 ounces. Doctors and nurses at Stafford Hospital’s newly expanded Level II NICU cared for the premature baby and mother.

The hospital said the mother and father, Casey and Brett Perlier, drove from North Carolina to Pennsylvania to visit family for the holidays. The mother began having contractions while traveling on Interstate 95.

The couple pulled off the highway and went to Stafford Hospital, where doctors performed an emergency C-section to deliver the child.

The baby is doing well and is expected to be discharged home soon.

In April 2022, Stafford Hospital expanded its Intermediate Level Nursery to become a Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, partnering with Children’s National and Mary Washington Hospital to provide advanced, specialized care to premature infants in the Stafford County community and beyond.

Led by medical director Dr. Allison Markowsky, the Level II NICU brings the expertise of Children’s National neontologists and hospitalists to Stafford Hospital through both telemedicine support and in-hospital care.

“We are so proud of our Level II NICU and the partnership between Stafford Hospital and Children’s National. To be able to offer this kind of specialized, expert newborn care when situations like Casey and Brett’s arise is an important part of our commitment to keeping our community healthy,” said Dr. Markowsky.

Stafford Hospital threw a community baby shower for about 500 expectant mothers.

The event drew nearly 20 vendors and residents from around the region to the hospital’s atrium. Moms and dads learned where to get pre-natal and post-partum care, access to community health services and nutrition, and where to find books to read to babies.

“We want every person in our community to know they have access to good quality care. And this is a way to do this, especially by highlighting Stafford Hospital and its services to the northern part of our service area,” said Mary Ann Batsche, a hospital spokeswoman. “But it is to help educate the new moms and moms-to-be in the community about the resources available to them for their families, their children, themselves.”

September 15, 2022, event marked the return of the community baby shower. It had been an annual event before the pandemic, and Batsche says the goal is to continue holding the baby shower regularly now the pandemic has waned.

“I came across some information that I wasn’t previously aware of. For example, the advice nurse line, and that it’s available to people of all ages. So myself or the baby, or anyone in my family. So, yeah, definitely a number to have on hold,” said Annette Johnson of Stafford, expecting her first child. I love that there are free books available here. And there was even a sign-up with Dolly Parton’s [Imagination Library] for free books every month for a year.”

Kelly Brown will soon have her seventh child, a girl. She was impressed to learn about advances in technology and resources to help pregnant women like her over the age of 35.

“I would say the birthing process of technology available, the utilization of the lactation consultants, I didn’t have as much access to that before. The resources, for every spectrum…for mom and the baby…is a lot more,” said Brown, who attended the shower with her husband.

Participants were greeted with sweet treats, cheese, and crackers and invited to dine on the hospital’s patio.

Stafford Hospital, at 101 Hosptial Center Boulevard near the county’s courthouse, is a 100-bed facility that opened in 2009 and is part of Mary Washington Healthcare.