For many people, living in the Midwest means living in a rural community, but that shouldn’t mean they have fewer options for health care. For nearly 25 years, Avera Health has been innovating new ways to connect patients with their doctors and ensure they get the care they need. A little over two years ago, a Pierre family experienced that collaboration of care firsthand when their twins decided to arrive a few weeks early.
“They're fun. It's crazy to think that they were just four pounds when they were born, each of them, and now they're thriving and growing every day!” said Brooke Nipp as she watches her twins Sutton and Emersyn play on the living room floor.
Brooke has been a patient of Jessica Rasmussen, MD, FACOG, for almost as long as she’s been practicing in the area. Rasmussen, an obstetrician and gynecologist with Avera Medical Group Pierre, had been monitoring Brooke’s complex medical history – which meant more frequent appointments when Brooke became pregnant with twins.
At 30 weeks, she started to have some increasing blood pressures and we were watching her closely,” said Dr. Rasmussen, “We have a very integrated health system and the sub-specialists are very available to us. We have lots of women that we take care of here in the rural setting that are higher risk,” said Dr. Rasmussen.
As her pregnancy progressed, Brooke developed preeclampsia, a condition that caused her blood pressure to elevate and it became increasingly harder to control.
"It just kept kind of going higher and higher and they had me logging it every day,” said Nipp. “Once my blood pressure hit that highest peak, she (Dr. Rasmussen) said it's time for you to go to Sioux Falls where there's higher level of care and just with me being type 1 diabetic, it was the best place for me to be.”
For those first moments of life, Neonatal Intensive Care is so important for moms and for babies and there's lots of indications that need it. In Brooke's case, it was a stable environment where the twins could be delivered and cared for despite being born earlier than expected.
“I don't think I really understood exactly what a preemie baby was until we got to Sioux Falls and the NICU doctors actually came into our room and talked to us and explained that it'll all be OK. They were healthy babies. There was nothing that was wrong. It was just going to be a preterm delivery," said Nipp.
At 5:02 and 5:07 in the morning, the twins made their arrival. The babies went to the NICU and Brooke's blood pressure started to return to normal.
"Between the nurses, the therapists, the doctors and the social workers, they all helped us navigate. They explained everything every single day, anything they did with the twins, they explained it to us and they never did anything that we weren't OK with,” said Nipp.
While the twins continued to get stronger, Brooke and her husband Skyler were also able to stay close by at the Ronald McDonald House, a tremendous resource to families when care requires a stay far from home.
“It can be concerning when we live three hours away from the higher level of care, but we have a team that works very closely together with those sub-specialists. We have board certified OB/GYNs out here that are capable of recognizing when they need the transfer of care. We want moms and babies to be in the best place for them. So we do our best to recognize and work as a team. And the team in Sioux Falls is very aware of our resources and very helpful when we need extra resources,” said Dr. Rasmussen.
Sutton and Emersyn just turned 2 years old and the family is thriving.
"Sutton is into everything, toys, trucks, tractors, anything that has wheels. Emersyn's into dolls and Barbies and purses and she can be that sweet little girl and then she'll be that girl that you want to run away because she's going to get you!” said Nipp.
“It's lovely to see the combination of the care and everybody working as a team. Seeing them grow up to be healthy and strong is very satisfying,” said Dr. Rasmussen.
Learn more about Avera’s OB/GYN and pediatric services.
