Kid Captain: Nataleigh Mochal

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Nataleigh Mochal’s first breath came courtesy of the incredible neonatal team at University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital. Weighing just 1 pound, 5 ounces – about the weight of a loaf of bread – the baby girl came into the world months early, setting the stage for an incredible journey that helped shape Nataleigh into the resilient 9-year-old she is today.

Nataleigh’s mother, Kelsie, had planned to give birth at her local hospital and had little warning that her daughter would be born early. During a routine checkup, prenatal tests showed her pregnancy was at risk – as was her own life. She was taken by ambulance to Stead Family Children’s Hospital, where Nataleigh was born that same day.

“I was scared. I had no idea what would happen,” Kelsie recalls, noting the initial goal was to be on bed rest to deal with her eclampsia in hopes she could extend her 25-week pregnancy a bit longer, but Nataleigh was born just hours later. “It all happened really fast.”

Kelsie was unsure if her daughter would survive, hearing that an infection was targeting her baby girl in the womb. It was this same infection that caused Nataleigh to be born with congenital pneumonia.

“The way they explained it to me, my body was kind of rejecting the pregnancy and my organs were shutting down,” she says. “It was like, if they don’t get her now, we’re both going to be lost.”

Because Nataleigh was not breathing when she was born, the care team immediately resuscitated her and intubated her to establish an airway. They also addressed bilateral brain bleeds. It was an entire day before Kelsie saw her daughter.

Read Nataleigh’s story here.