City docs save low birth weight baby with 80-day treatment

Nagpur: A city obstetrician and gynaecologist (OBGY) and a paediatrician saved life of an extremely underweight (just 490gm) baby born to a 46-year-old woman. The baby was conceived through IVF treatment, an assisted reproductive technique (ART). The baby’s weight was brought to 2kg at the time of discharge after 80 days of treatment.
Dr Shilpi Sud, the OBGY, told TOI that the woman from Mandla in Madhya Pradesh had approached her for infertility treatment. She had a baby girl when she was 30-year-old. After that she couldn’t conceive for another 16 years. “I treated her infertility and she could conceive through IVF. But within five and half months she developed very high blood pressure but managed it somehow.”

“Before completion of six months, the blood circulation in the baby slowed down substantially. Her amniotic fluid also started shrinking and we had to deliver the baby boy through caesarean section at 28 weeks of gestation with a low body weight of just 490gm,” the doctor said.

Since the mother belonged to MP, she had to be admitted for a month or so before delivery to maintain her blood pressure. Dr Sud said that due to availability of a fetal surveillance unit at her hospital, new medicines and regular monitoring through ultrasound, it was possible to maintain the pregnancy.

“I had given the baby injections for brain and lung development before delivery. Yet it was finding it hard to breathe and so we had to send it to a paediatrician for further treatment,” said Dr Sud.

Dr Praveen Khapekar, the paediatrician who took over the baby boy immediately after birth, said this was the lowest birth weight baby he had treated. The infant suffered from respiratory distress initially and was put on a non-invasive method of artificial breathing using a C-PAP. Within four days, the boy could breathe without artificial oxygen.

“Initially the baby was given IV fluids like glucose and amino acids as feed. By tenth day he was shifted to tube feeding in which both mother’s milk and top milk was given. We avoided any complicated and invasive treatment,” he said.

Dr Khapekar said generally such underweight children suffered from retinopathy of premature (ROP) and have to be treated using a laser. But in this baby no such thing was required. It was completely prevented from any infection. “Generally only 40-45% of children with such low birth weight survive. Luckily this boy responded very well to the treatment and is doing well,” he said.