May 4, 2007, ST. LOUIS – Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Children''s Hospital will help the “Ferrill Five” quintuplets make their national TV debut during the premiere of “Quint-essential,” Monday, May 21 at 8 p.m. on The Learning Channel (TLC).  The debut episode follows Jenny Ferrill of Danville, IL as she began her two-month stay at Barnes-Jewish Hospital through the delivery of quintuplets on December 21, 2006.

The five babies, the first quintuplets born in the 92-year history of Barnes-Jewish, went on to spend three months in Children''s neonatal intensive care unit, but are now back home and doing great.

TLC''s camera crew spent almost five months shuttling between Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Children''s Hospital documenting the story of Jenny and Pete Ferrill.

As the Ferrill Five quintuplets make their national television debut, so do many physicians, nurses and staffers at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis Children''s Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine.

“This was a great opportunity and an uplifting event for our entire department,” says Judy Paull, RN, patient care director of women and infants at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. “Jenny''s stay here created a lot of camaraderie for us as a team."

The May 21 broadcast will be in essence a one-episode promotion for the entire four-episode series set to air in November on TLC.  Other episodes follow the quintuplet''s progress in the St. Louis Children''s Hospital neo-natal intensive care unit, the babies'' growth through the summer and their first birthday in December.

To watch “Quint-essential,” a cable or satellite television subscription is necessary.  TLC is channel 59 on Charter Cable, channel 280 on DirectTV and channel 183 on Dish Network.