Madison Hospitals Expand Care for 22-Week Babies
UW Health Kids and UnityPoint Health-Meriter's Tiny Baby Initiative has provided intensive care to about a dozen babies born at 22 weeks.
Updated on Nov. 10, 2026 in Babies
UW Health Kids and UnityPoint Health-Meriter have provided intensive care to about a dozen babies born at 22 weeks through their Tiny Baby Initiative, and several of those babies survived. The effort follows a loss seven years ago, when a baby born at 22 weeks died because no intensive care option existed.
Why it matters
Babies born at 22 weeks sit at the edge of viability, and care for them has historically been limited. The initiative shows that intensive treatment can now be offered to infants this early in the Madison area.
The hospitals have treated about a dozen babies born at 22 weeks, and several survived. The source does not provide a survival rate or the outcomes for every infant in the group.
The players
UW Health Kids
UW Health Kids is the pediatric arm of UW Health, the academic health system tied to the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison.
UnityPoint Health-Meriter
UnityPoint Health-Meriter is a Madison hospital that partners with UW Health Kids on neonatal care.
Dr. Claudette Onyelobi
Dr. Claudette Onyelobi is a neonatologist whose promise to help babies born very early led to the Tiny Baby Initiative.
The details
Care teams use specialized equipment and coordinate treatment for babies born at the edge of viability, sometimes as early as 21 or 22 weeks. The initiative was sparked by a promise from neonatologist Dr. Claudette Onyelobi to find a way to help babies born very early.
Timeline
Seven years ago: a baby born at 22 weeks died after doctors had no way to provide intensive care.
December 2023: Ayah Chikoka went home after more than eight months in neonatal intensive care.
Big Picture
The Tiny Baby Initiative extends neonatal care to infants born at 22 weeks, a gestational age that once offered little intensive treatment option. Its work builds on the earlier death that motivated Dr. Claudette Onyelobi's promise to act.
Families facing a very early birth in the Madison area now have access to intensive neonatal care at 22 weeks. The initiative offers a concrete option where none existed before.
The takeaway
Advances in neonatal medicine can change outcomes for infants at the earliest edge of viability. Families of very premature babies can ask their care teams about the specialized options available.
Further reading
Explore more Babies coverage to see how premature infant care is developing.
