Dr Shelley Drummond: Giving preemies a second chance

DOCTOR Shelley Drummond, 37, is the only neonatologist serving the western end of Jamaica — a chapter of history she began writing last year.

Born and raised in Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, Dr Drummond told All Woman that on completing her medical studies at the University of the West Indies in 2004, she did a short stint at the Cornwall Regional Hospital before leaving Jamaica in 2007 to specialise in paediatrics at Jackson Memorial Hospital, an affiliate of the University of Miami.

The Manning’s School graduate sub-specialised in neonatology, then worked for a period of time alongside her mentor and fellow Jamaican Dr Karen Young during her time at Jackson, where she did research and published papers. Shortly thereafter, she started seeking opportunities to return to Jamaica, as she was aware of the great need for her sub-speciality on the western end of the island. Neonatology focuses on the care of newborn infants, especially those that are ill or premature.

She faced an uphill task, however, because she was told repeatedly that there was no position for her. She was even warned by her friends who thought it absurd that she wanted to return and try to solve certain medical problems in Jamaica.

But when the issue surrounding the survival of premature infants became compounded in 2015, she jumped at the opportunity to return home to make a positive change to the outcomes for such babies, despite the doubts harboured by many people.

“The best way to get me to do something is to tell me it can’t be done or it’s impossible. People said, ‘Shelley, are you crazy? The system is the way it is, you can’t change it, one person can’t change it, don’t come back’,” she said, while noting that she has always had a very determined and tenacious personality.

Since she began working at Cornwall Regional in 2016, Dr Drummond has managed to lead the charge to reduce the death rate for all baby admissions from approximately 13 to 15 per cent to less than 10 per cent; move the survival rate of premature infants — those less than 1500 grams and less than 32 weeks — from 50 to 75 per cent, and increase the survival rate of 24 and 25-week babies from zero to 40 per cent.

“We have about 700 admissions yearly, and from that number about 100 are premature babies. We have been able to lessen deaths and improve outcomes for premature infants. Where 24 and 25-weekers are concerned, in the last year and a half Cornwall has sent home at least six babies born at 24 and 25 weeks. They are usually not considered viable. We have about 12 of them being born each year and now we have up to six surviving. It is not what it is in North America, but it is much better than what it was before. My vision is to take this islandwide, apply the changes made to Cornwall to all the hospitals in the island, so the success can be more widespread and there can be better outcomes for neonatals everywhere,” she said.

But how did she do it? Dr Drummond explained that when she returned, she analysed the data available, saw the problem areas, and decided on where to focus her attention. She said part of her solution has been a lot of quality improvement projects and educational training for physicians, nurses and labour/delivery room nurses on changing the way they care for these babies.

“The areas I looked at included proper resuscitation of these babies, writing different protocols as to how we feed these babies, do procedures on them and implementing the protocols. I was able to come back into the system, identify what the deficiencies were and how to remedy those deficiencies. My approach is not ‘Let’s see what we can do with what we have’. My approach is, ‘What is the desired effect and how can we get to it?’ I don’t want to limit us to what we have here.”

She added that the support from the administration team, nurses and residents at the hospital has been tremendous.

Additionally, through the We Care Foundation, Dr Drummond has been able to procure a high frequency ventilator, the only one of its kind in Jamaica and the English-speaking Caribbean, except Puerto Rico. The ventilator is expected to be at the hospital later this year, and will further help in saving the lives of premature babies.

“Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. Work hard. Anything can be achieved by putting in the work,” she said. “When you do, you’ll reap the benefits.”