Since 1981 Health School

Vietnam-China Hospital, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Time, 12 midnight.

The nurses on duty, Bao Jing and Yu Fangfang, were writing nursing records at the nurse's desk. While writing, they looked up from time to time at the row of incubators in front of them.

The neonatal intensive care unit is a ward that focuses on the treatment of critically ill newborns.

Like some newborns from mothers with diabetes, newborns from mothers with severe gestational hypertension, newborns from mothers with severe anemia, and newborns from mothers with heart disease,

As well as newborns with ischemic-hypoxic encephalopathy, aspiration pneumonia, meconium aspiration syndrome, intracranial hemorrhage, and multi-organ damage to the heart, kidneys, DIC, etc. caused by hypoxia, etc.

Therefore, none of the babies who can enter this ward are normal, and all of them are in critical condition, but it can effectively reduce the infant mortality rate.

Thanks to Chen Qi's sponsorship, 30 incubators were obtained in one go.

Then the neonatal mortality rate in central Vietnam plummeted from 34.68‰ to 11.9‰.

Although there is still a certain gap between the 4.9‰ data of later generations, it was enough in 1990.

You must know that in 1990, there were only a few hospitals in the country that could be equipped with neonatal intensive care units, and none of the prefecture-level hospitals were equipped with them. The Vietnam-China Hospital was once again in a leading position in the country.

Chen Qi's merits alone are immeasurable and he has saved the lives of many babies.

In order to relieve jet lag for the little baby who has just arrived in this world, all the lights in the NICU will be turned off in the middle of the night, leaving only some night lights.

And due to the effect of the medicine, these babies often do not have the usual day and night confusion, crying and fussing, and there is no need for medical care in the middle of the night.

Therefore, the nurses on the night shift were relatively relaxed. Bao Jing and Yu Fangfang were still chatting quietly about the gossip news, including the divorce of the "hospital beauty" He Jia.

"I heard that Dean Chen was opposed to it at the beginning. It was He Jia who refused to listen and insisted on getting married."

"I saw it during the wedding banquet. The groom is indeed very handsome, but it's a pity that he has a silver-like wax gun head, which is more attractive than useful. Hehe."

"But the Ping family is nothing. It's no different than cheating for marriage."

Just when the two little girls were chatting happily, they suddenly heard a slight meow. "Meow~~meow~~~"

The two nurses were immediately alert.

"Hey, Fangfang, listen, why is there the sound of a cat meowing?"

"Yes, it seems there is a cat. Oh, I'm in trouble."

There are 30 newborns living in this ward. If a wild cat runs in and bites the baby, they will be left without food, and the nursing department will have to tear them alive.

"Meow~~meow~~~"

"Quick, go find the wild cat."

"Strange, how did this wild cat get in?"

The neonatal intensive care unit is closed, and the doors and windows are almost never opened, just to prevent the baby in the incubator from catching cold.

So two young nurses took flashlights, stooped into the ward, and then followed the light everywhere to look for wild cats, but after searching for a long time, there was no sign.

"Bao Jing, have you found it?"

"No, where did the kitten go?"

Just as the two were searching, the meowing stopped. As soon as the two frustrated nurses sat down, another meowing sound came from the ward:

"Meow~~meow~~~"

Bao Jing and Yu Fangfang looked at each other, picked up the flashlight and rushed into the ward quickly, trying to find the damn wild cat as soon as possible. However, after searching for half an hour, except for the occasional cry of a baby, there was nothing else. Silhouette of wild cat.

When the two young nurses sat back at the nursing station again, they were already cursing.

"Damn wild cat, if I catch it, I have to beat it."

"That's right, I'll report to Director Liu tomorrow."

"OK."

The two were talking, and suddenly the cat meowed again: "Meow~~meow~~~"

Bao Jing and Yu Fangfang looked at each other, and their skin instantly became tense. The two little girls were so frightened that they quickly hugged each other.

"What should I do? It's not haunted, right?"

"The Great Merciful and Great Compassionate Guanyin Bodhisattva, save us. Comrade Ghost, if you have any grudges, go to our Director Chen. Don't scare us little workers."

From a superstitious point of view, hospitals are places where the most people die and where there is the most yin energy. Almost every hospital has supernatural stories and legends.

For example, in an empty outpatient clinic building in the middle of the night, some doors automatically open and close when there is no wind...

Another example is that the corridors in the inpatient department are very long, and the darkness is particularly scary. In the middle of the night, coupled with the sound of high-heeled shoes clicking...

There are also the emergency rooms where most accidental deaths occur, or the morgue where hospital patients go after they die...

Therefore, there is basically no need to install any central air conditioning in the hospital. In summer, it is freezing everywhere, and from time to time a gust of evil wind comes, which makes people feel chilly.

Moreover, medical staff are also human beings, and atheists are a minority after all.

In addition, a small number of medical staff have personally experienced supernatural events, and most people are still afraid of ghosts.

Not everyone is as brave as Chen Qi, who dared to make money by dissecting corpses and making specimens alone in the middle of the night when he was a student.

That night, the neonatal intensive care unit would hear meows from time to time. When I approached the ward, I could no longer hear them. The legs of the two nurses were shaking when they were feeding the babies.

At dawn, when all their colleagues rushed to work, Bao Jing and Yu Fangfang couldn't bear it any longer. They hugged the head nurse and cried loudly.

Are there feral cats in the NICU? Is this okay?

When the head nurse Ren Juan and the director of pediatrics Liu Shumin heard about it, they immediately paid attention. They didn't even do rounds on the ward and went out to find the stray cats.

What doctors are most afraid of is this kind of wild animal. Not only can it cause bites and scratches, wild cats may also carry unknown viruses and bacteria, which can cause nosocomial infections.

The babies in the neonatal intensive care unit are already in poor health and have low immunity. If many of them die, the doctors will have to take off their white coats.

But when everyone turned the intensive care unit upside down, they didn't see any wild cats, not even a single piece of cat poop.

Head nurse Ren was unhappy:

"Yu Fangfang, Bao Jing, are you two dizzy from working the night shift? Where are the wild cats?"

The two young nurses were very aggrieved. If one person heard it wrong, it was possible, but the possibility of two people hearing it at the same time was very small, not to mention that they had worked hard all night to look for wild cats with flashlights.

But facts speak louder than words. Although Liu Shumin is an easy-to-talk department director, she is not someone to be trifled with when she really gets angry.

"Okay, okay, Xiaobao is smaller than them and maybe too tired, so everyone has dispersed."

Head nurse Ren pointed at her two subordinates and then started her busy day.

Just when everyone thought the matter was over, they didn't expect that at midnight the next day, two young nurses on duty, Zheng Furong and Zhang Yinshuang, also heard the cat meowing.

It's just that the cat's meow is very soft, intermittent and very vague. You can't really hear it unless you listen carefully.

Now the two nurses were no longer calm. Just like Bao Jing and Yu Fangfang who were on duty last night, they could only hug each other and tremble all night.

The next day, the news that the pediatric ward was haunted spread throughout the hospital, and the whole hospital was in an uproar.

Supernatural incidents were reported layer by layer, and Chen Qi soon learned about them.

Don’t underestimate the rumors of hauntings. There are a lot of superstitious people in 2023, not to mention this is still 1990.

If this matter is not handled properly, the reputation and interests of the People's Hospital will suffer a major blow. I have not seen many pregnant women and parents of newborns clamoring to be discharged.

No one wants to be haunted by ghosts, right?

Chen Qi personally took Zuo Liwei, the chief of the medical department, and Huang Qiming, the chief of the security department, to the neonatal intensive care unit. A large group of doctors from the pediatric department also followed behind.

Many medical staff were whispering behind them:

"Why are our pediatricians so unlucky? What will we do if we work night shifts in the future?"

"We are all female doctors and nurses in the Department of Pediatrics. The yin energy is too strong, and ghosts like to absorb yin energy. Who would they look for if they don't look for us?"

"Fortunately, we have to move to a new inpatient unit, otherwise this life would be unbearable."

Chen Qi was also complaining to Section Chief Zuo next to him:

"You said that the new building of the hospital is about to be put into use. I have a lot of things to do. One moment I am the women's director mediating family conflicts among employees. The next moment I have to help my subordinates get divorced. Now I even have to do the ghost hunting thing myself. ”

Section Chief Zuo opened his briefcase mysteriously:

"Dean, don't worry. I have prepared the talisman from Longhua Temple, the peach wood sword from Wang Xingji, the incense ashes from Lufeng Temple, and this. This is copper coins, and this is glutinous rice. When we encounter dirty things, we will give them a handful Sprinkle a handful over.”

Chen Qi thought to himself that Zuo Liwei was really a considerate person of the dean. He was so well prepared, except for the golden charm and the black donkey's hooves.

"Okay, okay, where are the ghosts in this world? Even if they exist, they are cowards like you. We can walk and sit up straight, but are we still afraid of wild ghosts knocking on the door in the middle of the night?"

Chen Qi said loudly, wanting to encourage everyone, but when he turned around, he saw Dr. Qian Yuqian holding a jade Buddha and mumbling something.

Seeing this scene, Chen Qi felt that it was necessary for him to give several Marxist-Leninist classes to all the staff in the hospital.

The neonatal intensive care unit is located in a small bungalow between the pediatrics and obstetrics and gynecology departments. The environment is relatively closed. The nurse stands at the door, but there is a large glass partition in the middle.

Chen Qi, Huang Qiming, chief of the security department, and Liu Shumin, director of pediatrics, entered the neonatal intensive care unit together.

The ward is about 100 square meters, and there are three rows of incubators, 10 in each row, neatly arranged.

In addition, there are some life support systems, rescue systems and other medical equipment, which seem to be full.

Chen Qi looked around a little strangely: "No, this window is completely closed, and the roof and walls are not damaged. So where did this wild cat sneak in?"

After Chen Qi, Liu Shumin, and Huang Qiming entered the neonatal intensive care unit, they took action separately.

As the chief of the security department, Huang Qiming carefully checked whether any doors and windows had been damaged. Could it be that enemy agents came to cause damage or wanted to steal children?

The security department of the unit these days is incredible. It is completely different from the security guards of later generations who have few teeth.

The staff of the security department of the Vietnam-China Hospital are almost all veterans, which can be regarded as half a police station. They even have guns. Not only do they have to be pulled out to catch the bad guys at a critical moment, they are even the kind that can go to the battlefield.

Therefore, Huang Qiming's alertness and professionalism were quite strong, and he kept his eyes wide open to avoid missing any clues.

Director Liu Shumin lowered her head and used feminine delicacy to search for wild cats bit by bit, even the gaps between the beds.

Chen Qi, on the other hand, looked at the newborns in the incubator one by one.

The first is to inspect the department as the dean, and the second is to see if these babies are "suspected of committing crimes."

The neonatal intensive care unit was very quiet. Others were watching the actions of Director Chen and the three of them through the glass. To prevent cross-infection, too many people could not enter the intensive care unit at once.

Half an hour later, Huang Qiming smacked his lips:

"Tou Chen, I don't seem to have found anything suspicious. Let alone a wild cat, not even a mosquito can fly in."

At this time, Director Liu Shumin also straightened up. Because he was a little dizzy after squatting for a long time, he supported a ventilator next to him, but accidentally dropped a glass bottle to the ground.

Bang~~~ was a loud sound in the silent neonatal intensive care unit.

Wow~~~Wow~~~Wow~~~

It was better now. The little babies in the incubator who were originally dizzy were so frightened that they all started crying.

Head nurse Ren quickly walked in and followed Director Liu to comfort the child.

Chen Qi was also at a loss. 30 babies cried loudly at the same time. The sound was the same as that of 3,000 little ducks at the scene. Chen Qi was so frightened that he was about to leave as soon as possible.

As soon as Chen Qi walked to the door, he suddenly paused. Section Chief Huang Qiming behind him asked:

"Dean, what's wrong?"

"Wait, listen, listen carefully, is there a sound of a kitten meowing?"

Chen Qi suddenly turned his head and looked at the 30 incubators in front of him.

All four people in the intensive care unit were stunned there, with their ears pricked up, which made the doctors and nurses outside extremely curious and talking about it:

"Ah, look, are the dean and the others possessed by evil spirits? Why don't they move?"

"Yeah, it's so weird. On one side is a crying baby, and on the other side are four wooden figures. Is this ghost so powerful that he can come out in broad daylight?"

"It's over, it's over. I heard that evil things are most likely to appear during construction projects. Isn't there a building being built next to us?"

People outside were horrified, but people inside could already hear the difference.

Head nurse Ren's eyes suddenly lit up. Although she didn't say anything, she was so anxious that she waved her hand and clicked on an incubator not far away.

Chen Qi understood instantly, walked lightly and walked as quickly as possible to the incubator indicated by the head nurse. Four adults surrounded him, holding their breath.

Sure enough, after a while, I heard a very slight meow from inside the incubator.

Meow~~meow~~

Head nurse Ren immediately covered her mouth, unable to hide the surprise on her face.

Director Liu has become well-informed, and now his mouth is wide open and cannot be closed for a long time:

"This, this, why does this child cry like a cat meowing?"

Chen Qi was also full of curiosity, "Quickly, open the lid of the incubator and listen carefully."

When Director Liu and Head Nurse Ren heard this, they quickly opened the lid. The baby inside might not be used to it and started crying again:

Meow~~meow~~~

Now the four people heard it really clearly.

While others were still surprised, Chen Qi saw a problem.

The head of this little baby is obviously larger than that of other babies. The key is the face. You can clearly see the face of a full moon, and the width between the eyes seems to be relatively large.

This appearance is very similar to that of a sugar baby.

Down syndrome babies, also known as congenitally stupid babies, clinically refer to children with Down syndrome, also called trisomy 21 syndrome.

Babies already have obvious special looks when they are born.

Symptoms include wide distance between the eyes, small eye fissures, upward slant on the outside of the eyes, epicanthic folds, low and flat nose, small ears, round ears, excessive folding of the upper edge of the auricle, and the tongue often sticking out of the mouth.

Hu Yizhou, hailed as a "genius conductor" by the media, is a typical Tang Baobao.

The special features of these children can be recognized at a glance, and all children look the same.

Chen Qi's mind was like a computer, and he immediately began to try to remember. Did this baby Tang have any clinical manifestations that were like a cat's meowing?

Director Liu was really surprised and said to himself:

"I have been a doctor for decades, and this is the first time I have heard a baby cry like a cat meowing. Dean Chen, you are well-informed. Do you think this child's cat meowing is normal or abnormal?"

Chen Qi came back to his senses, looked at the child in the incubator and shook his head:

"It's hard to tell if it's just a cat meowing, but look at this little baby's appearance. I suspect this is a child with Down syndrome. Call the parents quickly."

"Down syndrome? Oh my god, that means giving birth to a fool."

The incidence rate of Down syndrome is between 1/800-1/1000, but this data is for 2020.

In 1990, when there was a lack of prenatal diagnosis and examination, this figure was between 1/300 and 1/600, which was still quite high.

Down syndrome is a serious chromosomal malformation that can cause physical and intellectual development disorders. Therefore, in Chen Qi's previous life, pregnant women had to undergo a Down syndrome screening during pregnancy.

If Down syndrome is present, doctors will recommend that pregnant women give up the fetus and undergo induction of labor.

In early pregnancy, you also need to do NT examination, that is, through B-ultrasound examination. If the thickness of the translucency in the fetal neck exceeds 2.5mm, the probability of Down syndrome will be higher.

In the second trimester of pregnancy, which is between 14 and 21 weeks, go to the hospital for Down syndrome screening, which is a blood test. The doctor will evaluate the pregnant woman based on her gestational age, age, weight, and fetal size.

If Down syndrome screening is high-risk, doctors will recommend that pregnant women do non-invasive DNA or amniocentesis to diagnose whether the fetus has Down syndrome.

This is how to take precautions, but no one can guarantee 100% in medicine, and many Tang babies are still born and become a burden to their families.

By 2020, there will be more than 600,000 Down syndrome patients in my country, with an average of one child born every 20 minutes, which means about 26,000 Down syndrome patients will be born every year.

The baby's parents were quickly called for.

Chen Qi looked at the young parents in front of him and felt a little unbearable, but as a doctor, he still had to make it clear:

"You are the parents of baby No. 12 in the incubator, right? The father's name is Wang Xingping, and the mother's name is Feng Meili, right?"

"Ah, ah, yes, my name is Wang Xingping, and this is my wife Feng Meili. Doctor, did the child have any accident?"

The child's father looked very young, probably in his early twenties, and his face looked very anxious at this time.

My child was sent to the neonatal intensive care unit as soon as he was born. The whole family was already frightened about the inside of the incubator. Now that the doctor suddenly called him, there was no good outcome after thinking about it.

The child's young mother was so anxious that she wiped away tears.

Chen Qi coughed lightly:

"The baby's current condition is stable, but we have made another major discovery. If nothing goes wrong, the baby you give birth to should be a Tang baby."

"Tang Baobao? What is Tang Baobao?"

The young couple had question marks on their faces. Just hearing the name was quite interesting.

"Baby Tang's other name is congenital stupidity, which means there is a high probability that your baby will be an intellectually defective child."

"What?"

The young couple was shocked, and then everyone was dumbfounded: "How could this happen? How could this happen?"

They did not doubt the doctor's judgment, but they simply could not accept the consequences.

"Doctor, are you sure my son is born a fool? What causes this?"

Chen Qi shook his head:

"Exactly how it happens, let's describe it this way, we normal people all have 46 pairs of chromosomes. If a child suddenly has an extra chromosome, problems will arise.

Now that the child is still young, it is not difficult for me to determine it. I can only judge based on his appearance. If I want to confirm the diagnosis, I need to do a genetic test. "

The mother of the child was anxious: "Doctor, if it is confirmed that it is baby Tang, can this disease be cured?"

Chen Qi shook his head silently.

The child's father gritted his teeth: "Okay, doctor, can you do some genetic testing for us? How much will it cost?"

"Well, the cost of genetic testing is quite expensive, because we can't do it in China at the moment. We need to get it tested abroad. However, because of Baby Tang's special situation, we only need them to do the 21st chromosome, so the cost can be much cheaper, but the conversion It also costs about 20,000 RMB."

"20,000 is 20,000. Doctor, please help us get tested."

20,000 yuan in 1990 was definitely a huge amount of money for ordinary people. One could buy a house in Yuezhong City.

After receiving the patient's assurance, the Yuezhong Hospital immediately took the baby's blood and mailed it by air to Japan for testing by Sysmex.

When I got the results a week later, I was shocked.

The child's chromosome 21 is normal, so the possibility of having a Tang baby can be ruled out.

While this result made the child's parents happy, it made Chen Qi fall into deep thought and couldn't help but doubt his own judgment.

Not Trisomy 21?

Could it be Trisomy 13? Trisomy 8? Trisomy 9?

Dean Chen started to have a headache, but one thing he was sure of was that there was definitely something wrong with this child.

So what exactly is the problem?