Martha Lott's journey has taken another exciting turn
by Jessica Ennis
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| Martha Lott. Photo by Dana Johnson | In a good book, sometimes the story isn't over when you come to "The End." Sometimes the tale is so good, there needs to be a sequel. Martha Lott's compelling story has been told many times, but now she has begun an exciting new chapter.
Lott's journey began on Halloween night in 1961. She was born at Vanderbilt University Medical Center six weeks early, to the surprise of her parents.
"Nothing appeared to be wrong before she was born," said her father, Jerry Humphreys. "All of our kids were born early."
When Lott was born, she weighed a little over 5 pounds, and she was suffering from hyaline membrane disease (respiratory distress syndrome). It is one of the most common problems of premature babies, and causes the need for extra oxygen and help breathing. Premature babies born nearly 50 years ago often died if their lungs were not developed because there was no way to treat them.
Today it is very common for premature babies to be put on respirators until their lungs have a chance to develop, and they typically experience very good outcomes.
"I was in Medical School at Vanderbilt at the time Martha was born," Humphreys said. "I looked at the X-rays and she was as good as dead."
Lott's parents met with Mildred Stahlman, M.D., longtime professor of Pediatrics and Neonatology, who had been doing National Institutes of Health-supported research on lung development and hyaline membrane disease.
Lott was not responding to other treatments, so Stahlman proposed an alternative treatment that had never been used on a human premature baby before: they could put Martha on a respirator and try to monitor her vital signs.
"We were very concerned about Martha," Humphreys said. "I thought we had nothing to lose."
For five long days, Lott was hooked to a respirator modified by the staff to fit her tiny body. Her blood gases were monitored and Martha responded extremely well.
"I stayed there for five days to watch her," said Stahlman, who is still on staff at Children's Hospital. "We were lucky and she was lucky that it worked out. She turned up at the right time and we were ready for it. If she hadn't survived, I would have probably never put another baby on the machine."
After the success of that daring test, Vanderbilt soon established one of the world's first Neonatal Intensive Care Units. She went home soon thereafter, and had a normal childhood, with no lasting health issues as a result of being hooked up to the machine.
"Fortunately it worked," Humphreys said. "She was not damaged in any way."
Lott went on to earn a degree in Biomedical and Electrical Engineering from Duke University. She worked in the computer industry for 20 years. She and her husband, Lance, have four children between them and two grandchildren.
At age 43, she felt called to change careers. And her calling was extreme -- she wanted to work with sick infants.
"It was really faith-based," Lott said. "I was being called to go where my faith was leading me."
So Lott went to work at the NICU in Children's Hospital as a medical receptionist in 2004, learning as much as she could about the unit and the babies who needed care there. After one and-a-half years working as a medical receptionist, Lott worked as a nurse tech in the NICU for a year.
She doesn't advertise her past, and, for some time, didn't let her colleagues in the NICU know about how she famously entered this world.
"When I interviewed her for her job, she didn't want us to tell anyone about her being the first patient," said Wendy Maglothin, R.N., assistant manager of Patient Care Services in the NICU. "To think about what they had to work with back then and what Dr. Stahlman did, it makes me so proud to see how wonderful Martha turned out."
While working at Children's Hospital, Lott also began pursuing her nursing degree from Columbia State Community College.
"I am so pleased that she has this calling at Vanderbilt with newborn critical care," Humphreys said.
After graduating from nursing school in December 2006, Lott enrolled in the four-month-long Pediatric Nurse Residency Program at Children's Hospital with the hopes of being placed in the NICU. Residents are exposed to every area of pediatric nursing and go through a match day to be placed in their work area. Lott matched with the NICU, and has been working on the floor since March.
"I think it's really nice that she came back to Vanderbilt," Stahlman said. "The most unique part about that was she was willing to go back to the NICU - that might have been a real block for her. But for her to get interested in taking care of premature babies, she has come full circle."
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