Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital NICU cares for preemie and his family after his mom experienced an unexpected pregnancy complication on a California road trip

After an uncomplicated first pregnancy, Marielle Klunder had no reason to believe her second would be any different.

But life had other plans. Just a few days into a road trip along the West Coast with her husband, young daughter and in-laws, the Michigan resident and medical researcher suddenly began experiencing contractions. When they didn’t go away, Marielle and her husband, Nolan, decided to get things checked out before setting off for the next leg of their trip. At a hospital in Fort Bragg in Mendocino County, the expectant parents received news they never thought they would hear.

Marielle was going into labor. She was just 30 weeks pregnant. “My body was preparing to have the baby,” she recalled. More than 2,400 miles from home, Marielle and her husband were in a tiny hospital without a labor and delivery department or neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). They knew that what happened next would be critical to ensuring Marielle could safely deliver a baby who would need specialized care.

Marielle Klunder delivered her son, Judah, at Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital after being flown from rural Mendocino County where she went into preterm labor during a family road trip.

In a twist of fate, the hospital consulted with an obstetrician at Sutter Health, who advised medication to try to slow the labor. If delaying the labor was successful, Marielle could be transferred to a hospital with a NICU for her baby. If labor progressed, a NICU team would need to fly to Fort Bragg to stabilize the baby after delivery, then move it to an appropriate facility.

“Nolan and I were terrified,” she said.

Thankfully, medicine slowed the labor, and Marielle was cleared for air transport to Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital. Strapped into a gurney, she weathered painful contractions during the 45-minute helicopter ride. With her family 2.5 hours away by car, Marielle prayed that her husband would make it in time for the birth of their second child.

“We arrived in Santa Rosa, and I could have cried from relief,” she recalled. “They rolled me back to labor and delivery and transferred me to a bed. They were finally able to monitor my baby, who thankfully did not show any signs of distress despite my very distressing day.”

Bolstered by the steroid shot she had received in Fort Bragg to quickly mature her baby’s premature lungs, Marielle rode out the wait until her family arrived. At 9 p.m., Judah Klunder was born. The delivery team gently placed the tiny newborn on his mother’s chest for a few precious moments before whisking him off to the NICU. “I’ll always be grateful for that moment of normalcy after so much of the delivery wasn’t what I had hoped,” Marielle said.

At Santa Rosa, doctors discovered that Marielle had gone into preterm labor due to concealed partial placental abruption. The dangerous condition occurs when the placenta that feeds and protects the baby becomes partially detached from the uterine wall. Trapped blood can pool, which may reduce the baby’s oxygen supply and potentially cause severe internal bleeding and shock for the mother. Judah’s early arrival may have saved their lives.

After delivery, Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital’s NICU and social work teams partnered to make sure Marielle and her family had a safe, comfortable place to stay while Judah was in the NICU. They set the family up at the Bill and Elizabeth Shea House on the hospital campus, which provides free lodging for out-of-state families with hospitalized children. From the first day in the NICU, Marielle and her baby were enveloped in care.

Marielle Klunder enjoyed time with her daughter and son, Judah, during his stay in the neonatal intensive care unit at Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital.

“At Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital, we strive to make sure that each patient receives exceptional care, especially our tiniest and most vulnerable patients. Our incredible NICU nurses and staff are tasked with some of the most difficult but rewarding work, and they go above and beyond to ensure parents and families get the support they need as they navigate their baby’s medical journey,” said Kristi Svee-Sandberg, registered nurse and Sutter Santa Rosa’s Chief Nurse Executive.

That care extended to the moment – almost 8 weeks later – when a NICU bed was finally secured back in Michigan and it was time for Marielle and Judah to join her husband and daughter, who had returned home a few weeks earlier. With Marielle and her family facing challenges to obtain medical transportation to Michigan, the team at Santa Rosa worked tirelessly with Sutter Health’s system office and the family’s health system to get them home. With Sutter’s help, Marielle’s insurance approved a medical flight staffed with two flight nurses and respiratory support for Judah.

Today, Marielle and Judah are with their family, where the baby continues to grow and thrive. “I am so unbelievably grateful for the generous, kind, extraordinary care Judah and I received at Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital,” Marielle said. “It will always be stressful to have a baby receiving care in the NICU, but to be treated so kindly at such a vulnerable and scary time meant everything to me.”