HOUSTON -- The first baby born to an astronaut couple suffered a serious lung ailment at birth, but his parents and a pediatrician today said they expected Paul Seddon Gibson to grow up normally.
Margaret Rhea Seddon and Lt. Cdr. Robert 'Hoot' Gibson, both NASA astronauuts since 1978, proudly brought their 10-day-old baby boy at a news conference at Hermann Hospital.
Seddon and Gibson were married in May of 1981, but Seddon retains her maiden name. The only other married astronauts are Anna and Bill Fisher.
'He didn't make it apparent last night he had any lung problems,' Gibson said of his son.
Dr. Eugene W. Adcock, chief of pediatrics at University of Texas Medical school, said the baby's condition carries a mortality rate of 50 to 70 percent if not treated immediately.
He said it occcurs during labor, when the newborn baby passes meconium -- a sterile collection of cells, bio-acids and other bowel secretions -- and inhales it.
Adcock said meconium collects in the baby's mouth and nose and passes into his lungs as he begins to breathe.
Although Adcock said no one can guarantee the baby will be normal, 'We expect him to have some breathing problems for the next few weeks to months, but this should completely clear with time.'
He said the condition occurs in 10 percent of all deliveries.
Ms. Seddon, herself a physician, said she suspected soon after delivery there was something wrong with her child.
'It seemed to take a lot of time for the baby to cry, and it sounded somewhat gurgly, and he wasn't as pink as I would have liked him to be,' she said.
She said the child was taken by helicopter from suburban Clear Lake Hospital, where he was born, to Hermann, with sophisticaeted facilities, before he was 12 hours old. He also flew on jets while she was carrying him, so she said space travel should be no problem.
'He's got a good start at being an astronaut,' the proud mother said.
