A new mom in New Jersey is celebrating after finally bringing her baby daughter home from the NICU following an extensive stay. Not only was the baby the hospital’s longest-tenured patient, she was also delivered and cared for by the same team that brought her mother into the world 30 years ago.
On Tuesday, Feb. 24, after spending 285 days in the NICU, Chimamanda Myla Obidike was discharged from Virtua Voorhees Hospital and headed home with her mom, 30-year-old nurse Chi Obidike, ABC News reported.
“It feels so surreal. I can’t believe [we are] finally going home after 285 days. But I’m so, so grateful and so, so excited,” she said.
“It has definitely been very, very, very challenging — a lot of uncertainty in the beginning, especially because of how young and how early she came,” she added, per People magazine. “But I’m so grateful for Virtua and the entire team who made this possible, who kind of kept me throughout the entire journey and just held my hand all the way through.”
Baby Myla, as she’s affectionately called, was delivered via C-section at 24 weeks, weighing just over a pound and a half, on May 15, 2025. Over the last nine and a half months, she was cared for by an attending neonatologist, Dr. Leonard Goldsmith, the same physician who helped deliver Chi when she was born in 1995.
In the months that followed, Goldsmith said Myla battled multiple health challenges, including lung disease, a congenital heart defect, and anemia, along with other complications of prematurity that required surgery and additional treatments. On Tuesday, hospital staff sent her off with a celebratory clap-out.
“This is what we all live for. This is why people … [go] into medicine to begin with,” Goldsmith, who now lovingly refers to Myla as his “granddaughter,” said. “To try to make a difference and really offer help — it’s very rewarding.”
During the lengthy hospital stay, Chi’s husband was based in Nigeria, so her own mother became her steady source of strength throughout the ordeal.
“My mom was very, very, very much sure that we were exactly where we needed to be. She reminded me to never focus on how long we have been here, but focus on the fact that we are here,” she said. “And while we are here, how are we presenting? How are we showing up for Myla?”
She described her mother’s guidance and support as among the most important parts of her journey with Myla so far.
“But I think with time and understanding that time was the best friend to a premature baby, it made the journey easier,” she added.
For other moms navigating the NICU or unexpected complications early in motherhood, she offered words of encouragement.
“It’s hard. It’s challenging,” she said of the experience. “There’s a sense of guilt you feel when the baby comes early, but know it’s not your fault. You did nothing wrong.”
She added, “And just know that the best is yet to come.”
