Team of Doctors at Fortis Noida Successfully Save Three Severely Underweight and Premature Babies and Give Them a New Lease of Life

Fortis Hospital Noida recently saved the lives of three new borns with extremely low birth weights. A team of doctors consisting of Dr. K. Ramalingam, Director, Department of Pediatrics and Dr. Piyush Chandel, Consultant, Division of Neonatology, administered carefully crafted, intensive and intricate treatments on Baby girl Jannat( weighing 540 grams) and twins - Baby boy Aham weighing (750 grams) and baby girl Nishka (weighing 770 grams).

Baby girl Jannat, was prematurely born on 22 March 2017 within 29 weeks of her mother’s pregnancy. Archana, the mother, had been suffering from oligohydramnios (decreased fluid in the uterus). The baby was born with severe intra uterine growth retardation and her weight at birth was a minimal 540 grams. The baby was given ventilator support and then weaned off to CPAP (mechanism to support spontaneous breathing) support for few weeks. She was frail, her breathing feeble as she fought to stay alive against all odds. The doctors supplied parenteral nutrition to support her growth and simultaneously expressed breast milk through oro-gastric tube. The baby responded positively to the treatment and got discharged from the Hospital on May 12 2017 weighing 1.7 kilos.

Twins Aham and Nishka, were born on 20th February 2017, within 26 weeks of their mother Nidhi’s pregnancy. In an unexpected turn of events the babies were born in the car on the way to the hospital. This was extremely dangerous as such conditions are extremely unhygienic and infectious. Both the babies had to be resuscitated after which they were moved to neonatal care. The doctors found it a challenge to treat the twins because not only had they been prematurely born, weighing approximately 700 grams, they had also not been delivered in a controlled hospital environment.

The twins were put on ventilator support and surfactant therapy (a medicine to expand the lungs) was administered. They were then extubated soon and supported with CPAP. Total Parenteral Nutrition was administered to provide adequate calories and protein was started. The feeds began to increase gradually. After 3 months both the babies were discharged from the hospital. At present the Nishka and Aham weigh 3.06 kg and 3.73 kg respectively.

Dr. K. Ramalingam, Director, Department of Pediatrics & Neonatology, Fortis Hospital Noida said, “The babies have recovered well which shows the dedication, competence and team work of the doctors , nurses and the support staff at Fortis Noida. The trust and faith of the parents of these premature new borns in the team of doctors served as an additional impetus for the doctors to deliver good results.“

Dr. Piyush Chandel, Consultant, Division of Neonatology, Fortis Hospital Noida said, “The survival rates for babies born with extremely low birth weight and preteen babies is extremely low. One needs to pay attention to the overall development alongwith the proper neuro developmental outcomes in such cases”.

Dr. Kousar A Shah, Zonal Director, Fortis Hospital Noida said, “These cases were extremely complex. It was traumatic for the parents and the doctors. While the patients felt helpless the doctors worked tirelessly around the clock to save the lives of these three newborns. It was truly a proud moment for Fortis hospital Noida to see the expertise of these doctors deliver results”

The weight of a baby at birth is a strong indicator of maternal and newborn health and nutrition. The incidence of low birthweight is defined as the proportion of new-borns weighing less than 2,500 grams. South Asia has the highest incidence of low birthweight, with one in four newborns weighing less than 2,500 grams1. Low Birth weight is due to a variety of reasons, from the mother herself being under nourished to her being ill during her pregnancy and in certain cases it can be genetic.

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