A Premature Birth and a Rare CPAM Diagnosis: How Collaborative Care at Lakeview Hospital Is Helping Baby Kailani Thrive

After three miscarriages, Kenya Tassin-Elzy’s worries overshadowed her excitement when she found out she was pregnant again in September 2025. With the support of her care team, Kenya reached the halfway mark in her difficult pregnancy and was beginning to feel some excitement before learning that her baby girl had been diagnosed with a rare lung condition.  

“Every day, I felt like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop,” Kenya said. “It started soon after I learned I was pregnant and started bleeding.”  

Wanting to receive care closer to home, Kenya chose Jonte Ellison, MD, with Lakeview Hospital, as her obstetrician/gynecologist. 

“Kenya developed a subchorionic hematoma, which is a small pocket of blood that forms between the placenta and the uterine wall,” Dr. Ellison explained. “This is a relatively common finding in early pregnancy and may cause bleeding that can be mistaken for symptoms of miscarriage.”  

Given Kenya’s history of pregnancy loss, Dr. Ellison monitored her closely with regular ultrasounds to measure the hematoma while the bleeding persisted. As with most cases, the subchorionic hematoma reabsorbed and the bleeding stopped near the end of Kenya’s first trimester.  

A difficult start: navigating early pregnancy complications 

On top of the anxiousness caused by the persistent bleeding, Kenya was also dealing with hyperemesis gravidarum, a severe form of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy that goes far beyond typical morning sickness.  

“I vomited at least once a day every day,” Kenya recalled. “In the first 17 weeks of pregnancy, I lost 20 pounds because I couldn’t keep anything down.”  

For several weeks, Kenya became so dehydrated that she required visits to the Lakeview Hospital emergency room for IV fluids. These visits placed Kenya in the role of patient rather than caregiver at the hospital where she works.  

“I am a cardiac nurse at Lakeview,” Kenya said. “So I already knew about the excellent care that our teams provide, but being on the patient side of this journey has given me a different perspective and greater appreciation for compassionate care.” 

Determined to help Kenya feel better and keep her and her baby nourished and hydrated, Dr. Ellison prescribed various treatments until they found the right combination for Kenya. At 18 weeks pregnant, Kenya was able to tolerate more food and gained two pounds.  

“For a few weeks, it felt like the storm had cleared and the sun was shining again,” Kenya said. “I had made it farther in this pregnancy than ever before and was feeling better.”  

But the rain clouds would quickly return after Kenya’s 20-week anatomy scan. 

Rare diagnosis presents a new challenge 

“I was so excited about the scan,” Kenya recalled. “I was mesmerized watching a baby moving inside me and looking at her fingers and toes. The whole experience was indescribable.” 

Soon after, Kenya would learn that her baby girl, Kailani, had a lung mass known as congenital pulmonary airway malformation (CPAM), a rare condition that can affect how the lungs grow and function. 

“It felt like a gut punch,” Kenya said. “I was right back to worrying about my baby.” 

Because CPAMs can sometimes lead to respiratory complications after birth and often require surgical intervention, Kenya’s care team began coordinating a transfer of care.  

“To best support Kenya and her baby, we planned for her to deliver at Touro, a sister hospital within the LCMC Health network,” Dr. Ellison explained. “Given its close proximity to Manning Family Children’s, this ensured immediate access to specialized pediatric surgical care, should it be needed after Kailani’s delivery.” 

Kenya’s last appointment with Dr. Ellison was on January 31.  

“Dr. Ellison and I joked that we were going through a bad breakup,” Kenya said. “She had been through so much with me through the hematoma and hyperemesis gravidarum, with appointments nearly every other week from the beginning. We said that I would have to have another baby so that Dr. Ellison could still deliver one of my babies at Lakeview.”  

From concern to crisis 

Just a few days later, Kenya woke up feeling uncomfortable.  

“I felt a little bit crampy and thought maybe it was constipation,” Kenya recalled. “That was on Thursday, and when I still didn’t feel good by Saturday morning, I called the Labor and Delivery unit at Lakeview. The nurse I spoke with said she didn’t like how I sounded and told me to come in to be evaluated.”  

As soon as Kenya arrived, the nurses confirmed she was in preterm labor and immediately began connecting her to monitors, initiating IV access, and paging the on-call OB-GYN.   

“I started to panic because I was only 25 weeks along and knew it was too soon for Kailani to come,” Kenya said. “Then, Dr. Ellison walked in. It just so happened she was the on-call OB-GYN that weekend. It was such a relief to see her because of the trust we had developed and because she knew all of the details about my pregnancy.” 

From there, the situation escalated quickly. Attempts to slow the progression of labor were unsuccessful, and Kenya went from minimal dilation to eight centimeters within 30 minutes.  

“I knew we were reaching the point where we would have no choice but to deliver Kailani at Lakeview, so I consulted with a maternal-fetal medicine specialist to determine the best course of action given her CPAM diagnosis,” Dr. Ellison explained. “When Kailani’s heart rate began to drop due to fetal distress, we rushed Kenya to the operating room for an emergency C-section.” 

The CPAM wasn’t the team’s only concern. At 25 weeks gestation, a baby’s lungs are still developing, and the work of oxygenation is handled entirely through the placenta. 
 

“When a baby is born, the responsibility for oxygenation shifts from the placenta to the lungs,” explained Lisa Barbiero, MD, a neonatologist at Lakeview’s Level III neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Tulane University School of Medicine. “This transition places a significant burden on underdeveloped lungs, and in Kailani’s case, we also had to consider the potential impact of the CPAM on her ability to breathe effectively. Given her gestational age and low birth weight, we anticipated a higher level of respiratory support would be needed.” 

Baby steps forward in the NICU 

The NICU team was present in the operating room and after delivery Kailani immediately needed support with a ventilator. 

“We were able to remove the breathing tube when Kailani was two-and-a-half weeks old as she had steady improvement in her breathing,” Dr. Barbiero said. “In fact, Kailani was weaned off all respiratory support when she was still four weeks before her due date! This is remarkable considering her extreme prematurity combined with her CPAM.”  

For weeks, Kenya spent the majority of her days providing skin-to-skin care with Kailani in the NICU as the team focused on supporting Kailani’s lung development and adequate weight gain. Kenya recalls many moments of compassionate care at Lakeview, but one stands out. 

“It was the day after Kailani was born, and I hadn’t seen her yet due to my own recovery,” Kenya explained. “At first, I refused to go to the NICU. I couldn’t bear the thought of seeing the baby I never thought I’d see on this side of heaven — covered with wires, intubated, and so fragile. Juliana was my nurse that day, and she came to my room with a wheelchair and said, ‘Come on, we’ll just go to the window.’ She got me to the window, then into Kailani’s room. She kept telling me, ‘I know it’s scary, but you are all Kailani has known for 25 weeks. You need to see her, and she needs to feel you.’ If it wasn’t for Juliana, I don’t know how long it would have taken me to find the courage to see Kailani for the first time.” 

On May 10, 2026, at 13 weeks old, Kailani was discharged home.  

“Having Kailani come home on Mother’s Day was the best first Mother’s Day gift,” Kenya said. “We did a lot of skin-to-skin while she was in the NICU, but we had a lot of snuggles to catch up on, so we spend most of our days at home just snuggling and watching TV.”  

The biggest adjustment since coming home has been the continued medical appointments as Kailani’s care team will continue to monitor the CPAM as she grows to determine the appropriate timing for surgical intervention to remove the mass. 

Advanced, compassionate care close to home  

“​​Kailani’s journey highlights the capabilities of our Level III NICU to care for critically ill newborns,” Dr. Barbiero said. “The neonatologists at Lakeview work closely with the regional level IV NICU at Manning Family Children’s, allowing us to extend a high level of specialized care throughout the Greater New Orleans and Northshore communities. We maintain close collaboration with our pediatric ​​sub-specialty colleagues to ensure seamless coordination of care when higher-level services are needed.” 

For Dr. Ellison, that collaboration was especially meaningful in the moments surrounding Kailani’s birth. 

“Once I cut the cord, my role shifts entirely to caring for the mother,” Dr. Ellison explained. “That is why it was so reassuring to have the Lakeview NICU team by my side when Kailani was born. Kenya has been such a fighter throughout her pregnancy, so for all of us to come together when she and Kailani needed it most is a memory I’ll carry for the rest of my career.” 

“I say it all the time, I had Kailani at home, at Lakeview,” Kenya said. “Everyone who has cared for us has treated us like family, and it’s not because I work there. They didn’t see me as a colleague; they saw me as a new mom watching her premature daughter face all of these challenges. Kailani received amazing care, and I’m so thankful that, in the end, I was able to deliver with Dr. Ellison at my work home.” 

From the first appointment to birth and beyond, Lakeview Hospital’s Women’s Health and NICU teams are ready to support mothers and babies every step of the way with compassion, collaboration, and expertise.