Update 5/24/2024: Two weeks following his premature birth due to his mother’s emergency health situation, baby Sylvester has been transferred by air to a higher-level hospital in St. Louis.
Baby Sly was born to pro-life speaker and author Leah Darrow earlier this month when she developed sepsis. He was just 22 weeks old when he was delivered via an emergency C-section in order to save both him and his mother. After Sly arrived safely at Cardinal Glennon Hospital, Darrow wrote on Facebook, “We are getting settled at Cardinal Glennon Hospital in STL with Sly and his new team of nurses and doctors. We couldn’t have asked for a better outcome. There were many big conversations tonight about Sly’s upcoming needs, but all of that is on the back burner until we get him re-stabilized here at @cardinal.glennon.
“Your prayers mean the world to us,” she said.
She also wrote that Sly has a very long road ahead of him and that continued prayers are appreciated.
Update 5/11/2024: In a Saturday, May 11 update, pro-life author, speaker, and former model Leah Darrow shared the good news that she has been discharged from the hospital after blood work showed her health is moving in the right direction. She thanked her followers for their prayers and celebrated that she is now able to stay with her premature son, Sly, in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Darrow also gave an update on Sly, stating that Saturday had been a good day for him because he had remained stable and hadn’t needed life-saving measures as he previously has. Sly was born at just 22 weeks in an emergency C-section.
“He has struggled and he has fought so hard,” she said. “…Sly is such a fighter and the past two days were really hard. They had to bag him both days where we really thought we were in the midst of just the last few minutes of his life. It was just very scary but he pulled through. And today he has not had any of these dips in his blood pressure or his heart rate so that’s really good.”
Update 5/9/2024: Leah Darrow, pro-life author, speaker, and former model, posted a health update on her social media on Thursday, sharing that she has been dealing with sepsis and asking for continued prayers.
“This is the first time that I’ve been feeling a little bit better, which is really good news for my health. First, thank you so much for praying for us,” she said through tears. “There are so many of you praying. Thank you. Just don’t stop. We’re waiting on some labs today for me. I was able to get another blood transfusion yesterday and we’re hoping that my labs start improving. They haven’t yet, but it might just take me a longer runway. So please pray, in particular for that, for my labs to come back well, in particular my hemoglobin and creatin if I’m saying these new words right — for my blood and kidneys. I’d have pretty severe kidney damage due to the sepsis and shock that I was in so they’re having a hard time recovering.”
She also gave an update on her son Sly, incuding that he is on a ventilator after being born at 22 weeks in an emergency delivery. “Sly really needs your prayers,” she said. “My nurse woke me up at 3am this morning because the NICU doctor called me over. It’s all very complicated but he had an emergency surgucal procedure done this morning and he survived it and but it’s very life-threatening. Everything they tell us is very life-threatening.”
Please continue to pray for the Leah and Sly.
5/3/2024: The family of Leah Darrow, a pro-life author, speaker, and former model, has requested prayers following her emergency C-section at just 22 weeks.
“We need your prayers. Our son, Sylvester Simeon Soldinie, was born premature last night weighing 1 lb. 2 oz. Leah had not yet announced her pregnancy, so it feels surreal to be announcing his birth,” her husband Ricky wrote on social media on Thursday.
Leah had begun feeling sick and experiencing contractions prompting a trip to the hospital. “We went to the hospital where they discovered some complications with both Leah and the baby leading to an emergency C-section which was performed at 11:56 PM,” said Ricky. “Little Sly now has a very long journey ahead of him in the NICU.”
He added, “Leah is a fighter but she is still having a hard time both physically and emotionally. And, of course, this all weighs heavily on our six other children who miss her dearly right now.”
Leah Darrow Instagram
Leah underwent an emergency C-section due to complications in the second trimester of pregnancy. Sometimes a pregnancy must be ended to save the life of the mother or the lives of both the mother and child, but such emergency deliveries are not considered induced abortions (which have the intent of ending pregnancy by intentionally killing the preborn child) and are therefore not prohibited by any pro-life law.
Leah left her career as a model to become a Catholic speaker, author, and podcast host. She is also the founder of the Lux Catholic app and speaks out against abortion. Following actress Michelle Williams’ 2020 Golden Globes acceptance speech in which she credited abortion with her career success, Leah, a former contestant on America’s Top Model, fired back. “I’m here getting ready to deliver my fifth baby,” she said in an Instagram video. “And I want to let all you women know, all you young ladies who haven’t had babies or are maybe listening to what the culture says about birth, and women, and babies, and choice — babies don’t keep us from our dreams.”
“I’m getting ready to deliver a baby that will not keep me from my professional growth, but will make me better because of it,” she continued. “And I’m so honored and excited, and I can’t wait to have this baby.”
