Wayde Eugene Ferguson, Rh-factor Baby, 1960

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Thanks to Joy Conwell for scanning and providing this article about her brother, Wayde Eugene Ferguson.

Prayers Aided By Medical Science

By John Bullinger

MEDIAPOLIS - At the age of eight months, Wayde Eugene Ferguson is a husky boy weighing 20 pounds. But at the time of his birth, September 30, 1959, there was a grave question as to whether he would survive.

After four consecutive babies had died because of an Rh factor, Wayde's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Don Ferguson, Mediapolis Rt. 2, prayed that he would live. Their prayers were answered with the aid of modern medical science.

Wayde is the only boy in the family now and he was especially welcomed by his sisters, Sheila, 10, Hope, 9, Eileen, 8, and Joy, 7. His grandparents are Mrs. Mary Ferguson, Fairfield, and Earl J. Harrison, New London. His great-grandfather is P. A. Moyers, Morning Sun.

It was necessary that Wayde be born by Caesarian section. Immediately after his birth, physicians performed a replacement of his blood because of the RH-factor. Wayde weighed 8 pounds, 4 ounces at birth, but he was in critical condition.

He was born at the Jefferson county hospital, Fairfield, where specialists collaborated on the blood exchange.

Doctor Tells Story

Dr. D. O. Holman, Ottumwa, pathologist and director of the Wapello county blood bank, tells the story of the preparation and work that went towards insuring Wayde's survival at birth:

"Mrs. Ferguson had four consecutive babies lost at birth because of erythroblastosis fetalis, the Rh factor problem. For this next baby she sought the advice of one of the doctors in this area and through his efforts the proper procedure was put into effect.

"Before the baby was born, blood was taken from both the mother and the father, and by recently developed techniques it was determined that this expected baby would also be affected with the disease. It was also possible to predict what the baby's blood type would probably be and blood was prepared and cross-matched with the mother's, to be taken to the hospital on the morning of the baby's birth.

"On Sept. 30, 1959, as quickly as the baby was born, he was prepared in an adjoining room and all of his own blood removed and replaced from the prepared sample by the method known as exchange transfusion.

"In this disease the mother develops a reaction against the baby and passes her own serum into the baby through the placenta in such quantities that the serum destroys the baby's red cells faster than they can be formed.

"The disease process was so active in this infant that in the short interval before the exchange transfusion could be started, the baby's hemoglobin had already dropped considerably.

"It was necessary to replace the baby's blood a second time, on the following day. Sufficient amounts of the mother's serum and infant's easily destroyed red cells were now exchanged so that the child was able to go along on his own.

"By replacing a baby's red blood cells with red cells that the serum will not destroy, a large percentage of these babies may be saved.

"Wayde Eugene is the first of five of the Ferguson's children to survive this disease and is now completely normal," Dr. Holman said.

Family Prayed

"We prayed that the boy would be all right," Mrs. Ferguson said. "Our daughters told us, 'We know it will be all right, Mom, because we have prayed.'"

The Ferguson family lives in a farm home 2½ miles northeast of Mediapolis. The father works as a farmhand for S. S. Barton whose home is just up the road from the Fergusons'.

"We have to keep the house fairly warm in cold weather," Mrs. Ferguson said. "Something like 80 degrees, because Wayde is a little anemic yet."

"Wayde went on cereal at the age of three weeks. And now he's drinking over a quart of milk a day. For the first three months we had to feed him every four hours."

Mrs. Ferguson said, "Wayde's father likes to go hunting and he always says to Wade, 'We'll be going hunting pretty soon.'

"We were going to name him 'Wayne' at first, but a cousin of ours had a baby and beat us to using that name. So we decided on 'Wayde' and like it better."

Mrs. Ferguson said she thinks, "Wayde will like the coming summer; then he can run around without shoes. He's a real boy, and just like any other boy he threw his first rattle on the floor and broke it. With the girls in our family, and Wayde being their only brother, we've never had to hire a babysitter."

Mrs. Ferguson, 31, is originally from Burlington, and her husband, 48, is from Fairfield. The family of seven lives cozily in their farm home and in a location where the children have plenty of room for outdoor play.

"A home without children would be pretty empty," Mrs. Ferguson concluded.

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Related information:

Don Leroy Ferguson

Wayde Eugene Ferguson

Miriam Louise [Harrison] Ferguson