VIRUDHUNAGAR: Despite having a survival rate of only 30-40%, a premature girl baby—born at 26 weeks of gestation, with an extremely low birth weight (ELBW)—has made a remarkable recovery in roughly two months, marking the first successful case of treating an infant with the ELBW as low as 680 g at the Government Medical College Hospital (GMCH) in the district.
For 76 days since the day of the delivery on May 11, the newborn had been receiving round-the-clock intensive care at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the hospital. The infant has now reached a healthy weight of 1.3 kg and was discharged on Friday.
According to GMCH doctors, a 26-year-old pregnant woman from Varalotti was brought in following a premature rupture of the amniotic sack. She delivered a baby girl, weighing just 680 g, at the hospital. While the average healthy birth weight of a newborn is around 2.5 kg, babies weighing at least 1.2 kg are generally considered to be out of danger.
Led by medical superintendent Dr Aravind Babu, a team of six doctors from the pediatrics department, including head of the department Dr Sangeeth, assistant professors Dr Shanmugamoorthi and Dr Niranjana, and nurses provided continuous care under the supervision of dean Dr D Jeyasingh.
“As the organs of the baby were not fully developed, she was given treatment to support lung development, blood circulation, and respiration, along with necessary antibiotics. She was also fed with donor milk from the mother’s milk bank and provided with Kangaroo Mother Care,” said Dr Shanmugamoorthi. The baby would be subsequently monitored through weekly check-ups and follow-ups by the village health nurse, said doctors.