PHOENIX (June 28, 2008) – July 4 is a day to celebrate the birth of a nation, but you can forgive Ellen and Stephen Howell for celebrating the birth of five little firecrackers a week early. The Houston couple welcomed their quintuplets to the world at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix.

The Howell babies – three girls and two boys – were born between 6:19 and 6:22 p.m., on Tuesday, June 24, following a 30-week, 5-day pregnancy.*

Ellen and Stephen are the new parents of:
 BABY GIRL A, Sidney Alun; 2 lbs, 10 oz; 6:19 p.m.
 BABY GIRL B, Ivy Elizabeth; 2 lbs, 8 oz; 6:19 p.m.
 BABY BOY C, Mitchell Thomas; 2 lbs, 15 oz; 6:20 p.m.
 BABY BOY D, Luke Harrison; 2 lbs, 15 oz; 6:21 p.m.
 BABY GIRL E, Briellen Jeannette; 2 lbs, 6 oz; 6:22 p.m.

“I am a little bit overwhelmed, but happy, ecstatic,” said Stephen Howell. “I have no words, which is pretty rare for me.”

Following delivery, the infants from both families are being cared for by Phoenix Children’s Hospital’s neonatology specialists. The Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU), located inside Banner Good Samaritan, is operated by Phoenix Children’s Hospital. The nursery's addition of 30,000 square feet,110 licensed beds, 76 private rooms and suites designed specifically for high-order multiples makes the new unit the largest of its kind in the nation. The connection between the two hospitals means mom can recover at Banner Good Samaritan, but remain only a short wheelchair ride away from her babies.

Dr. John Elliott, director of maternal-fetal medicine at Good Samaritan Hospital and a partner with Phoenix Perinatal Associates and the staff at Banner Good Samaritan and Phoenix Children’s Hospital, have developed an international reputation for their care and management of women delivering high-order multiples (triplets or more). Banner Good Samaritan has delivered about 80 sets of quadruplets, 10 sets of quintuplets and two sets of sextuplets.

Most of the quadruplets and quintuplets delivered at Banner Good Samaritan – including the Bryant quintuplets from Plano, Texas, born in September 2004 and the Wilkinson quintuplets from Austin, Texas, born in July 2007 – have come to Phoenix from another part of the country. This is thought to be more sets of high-order multiples than has been delivered at any other hospital in the U.S., and perhaps the world. Banner Good Samaritan is also a national referral center for many other kinds of high-risk obstetrical cases.

“These nationwide referrals say a lot for the reputation of perinatal and neonatal care provided by Banner Good Samaritan and Phoenix Children’s Hospital, and the physicians in our practice,” said Dr. Elliott. “We feel we have been very privileged to care for a number of mothers expecting high-order multiples.”

About Banner Good Samaritan
Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center has been providing medical care to Arizona and the Southwest since 1911. Banner Good Samaritan is owned and operated by Phoenix-based Banner Health, a not-for-profit organization, and is a flagship hospital within the system. The hospital was recently named to U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Hospitals” list for Gynecology, Heart and Heart Surgery, Kidney Disease and Urology. Banner Good Samaritan has also been recognized as a Magnet facility by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the highest honor a hospital can earn for its nursing care and practices.

About Phoenix Children’s Hospital
Phoenix Children's Hospital recently completed a $31.7 million renovation of their Intensive Care Nursery located inside Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center. The nursery was renamed the Tim and Julie Lewis New-Born Intensive Care Nursery and has expanded to four times its previous size. The 38,000-square-foot nursery features 110 licensed beds, 76 private rooms and 34 specially designed suites for high order multiples and is the largest private room Neonatal Unit in the United States. In May, Phoenix Children's broke ground for construction of an 11-story patient tower and outpatient clinic space. The $588 million expansion will increase the hospital's bed capacity to 632 beds, including 334 beds in the new patient tower. * Thirty-eight to 40 weeks is considered full-term in a singleton pregnancy.

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Contact:
Banner Good Samaritan Public Relations
(602) 239-4411