Premature babies can survive with advanced neonatal care   

BENGALURU:  Though the incidence of premature deliveries has increased by at least 20 per cent over the past two decades due to late marriages, advanced parental age, pregnancies, lifestyle and infections including Covid, still there is hope.

With advanced neonatal care facilities most of the babies can survive and stay healthy. Except for 47 babies of 3,000 premature babies (more than 99 per cent) with the youngest being 24 weeks old, others have survived in the city-based Rainbow Children’s Hospital in the past six years, said Dr Saravanan R, consultant, department of neonatology and paediatrics at the Hospital. Among them, 130 babies weighed less than 1 kg. Except for 11 of them, the rest have survived, he added.

It was a moment of joy for parents of at least 100 premature babies who participated, shared their experiences and instilled hope among parents of premature babies at the “Big Little Reunion” hosted by Rainbow Children’s hospital in Bengaluru on Saturday.

Dr Saravanan said that among the premature babies born at 24 weeks, with advanced treatment at the hospital, only two suffered long-term complications. While one has difficulty in walking, another had delayed speech, he said.