Aug. 7, 1963 - The newborn son of President Kennedy was rushed to the Boston Children’s Medical Center tonight for treatment of a respiratory ailment. Leaving the bedside of Mrs. Kennedy at Otis Air Force Base Hospital on Cape Cod, where the child was born at 12:52 p.m. today, 5½ weeks prematurely, the President flew to Boston to be with his ailing third-born child. In a fifth-floor room at the medical center’s Farley Building, a team of specialists X-rayed the 4-pound 10½-ounce infant and administered an undisclosed drug to ease his breathing. The child, born by Caesarean section, has been in an oxygen-fed incubator almost constantly since coming into the world. White House Press Secretary Pierre Salinger said the child’s ailment was a “minor problem — not unnatural in premature births.” Salinger told reporters the President is “worried like any other father” about the condition of his son. Dr. James E. Drorbaugh, an expert in premature birth heading the medical team attending the baby, said the illness was idiopathic respiratory distress syndrome. A hospital spokesman said it often occurs among premature babies delivered by Caesarean section. The lungs fail to develop sufficiently to function properly outside the mother’s body. Before being whisked away to Boston, the baby was taken to Mrs. Kennedy at 5:25 p.m. The First Lady was told the baby would be taken to the hospital. The President watched as the baby was put into the ambulance. When a newsman said he hoped “everything comes out all right,” Mr. Kennedy replied quietly, “Thank you.” The President paid a farewell visit to Mrs. Kennedy before departing for Boston by plane.
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