Noida, (Samajweekly) A 25 weeks old premature baby, weighing mere 750 gms, got a new lease of life by doctors at a private hospital here.
The woman, pregnant with twins hailed from Jhansi and was extremely critical at the time of admission at Fortis Hospital Noida.
With the leaking of amniotic fluid, the mother and the babies were at risk of infection.
“The twin babies were delivered by lower (uterine) segment Caesarean section, and one of the twins could not be saved and the other was born within 12 hours due to prematurity (intrauterine infection),” said Dr Aradhana Singh, Additional Director, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Fortis Hospital Noida.
“It was a case of premature delivery and the newborn required respiratory and cardiac support at birth due to underdeveloped lungs, heart and gut. She was immediately shifted to neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and was given ventilator support. After a few hours, the baby’s condition started deteriorating and she was given high frequency ventilator support (which is the highest form of ventilator support for neonates),” said Dr Sanjeev Chetry, Senior Consultant, Neonatology, Fortis Hospital Noida.
“The newborn required blood pressure, antibiotics support for stabilisation during the initial first week of life. She also had continuous episodes of seizures for which she was started on anticonvulsant,” he added.
The baby showed clinical improvement and was gradually weaned off the ventilator after three days, and is doing well now, the doctor said.
According to a recent World Health Organisation report titled “Born Too Soon”, premature or preterm births claim lakhs of lives every year in India, which records the maximum number of such deaths in the world.
An estimated 134 lakh babies were born prematurely in 2020, of which 30 lakh or 22 per cent were from India. Pakistan, Nigeria, China and Ethiopia followed India in the list.
