A baby weighing 540gm born a year ago at Max Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, turned 1

This case was led by Dr Kaushaki Shankar, Consultant & Incharge, Neonatology, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Shalimar Bagh along with her team. The child’s mother was admitted to the hospital at 26 weeks of pregnancy with severe pre-eclampsia (a disorder of pregnancy characterized by high blood pressure) which posed a threat to the unborn child’s life. Following this, the doctors conducted an emergency surgery to deliver the baby preterm. Being a premature birth, the child was born critically underweight, 540gms. Hence, immediately after birth the baby was intubated and shifted to NICU to be put on mechanical ventilation which is typically done for preterm newborn infants. The baby received invasive ventilation for 42 days including High-Frequency Oscillatory Ventilation (HFOV) for 18 days. She was also given total parenteral nutrition (a method of feeding that bypasses the gastrointestinal tract) for continuous nutrition.

Speaking on the same, Dr Kaushaki Shankar said, “As expected, this tiny brave warrior had a very tumultuous course and faced multiple challenges including prolonged respiratory issues, need for cardiac support and serious gastrointestinal complications. It was a challenge for us to deliver such an underweight baby. However, we not only managed to give birth to the baby successfully but MAX SCENE also helped her overcome all health complications. After a stay of 5 months 23 days in the NICU, we were able to successfully discharge the child. She weighed 3.047 kg on discharge, was on full feed and @ 1L/min of home Oxygen therapy, with regressing ROP and no preliminary hearing deficit. She is now off respiratory support and on direct cup feeds.”

“The child today celebrates her 1st birthday and we are very happy to have been able to save her life”, Dr Shankar further added.