Premature, low weight baby girl gets a new lease of life

Mohali, January 11, 2022: A 6 month premature newly born baby girl with birth weight of only 790 gm got a new lease of life after she was treated successfully by Dr Amit Nagpal, Consultant, Pediatric and Neonatology at Ivy Hospital.
Giving information during a press conference at Ivy Hospital on Tuesday, Dr Amit Nagpal said that the baby's pregnant mother came to the emergency department of Ivy hospital around 3 am in morning with a complaint of abdominal pain. Mother was admitted and shifted immediately to the labour room for further evaluation and treatment.
She was assessed and found in 2nd stage of labour. She delivered vaginally at 4 am. The baby had birth asphyxia and she did not cry immediately after birth. The neonatal resuscitation was given and the baby was intubated and shifted to NICU with bag and tube ventilation.
Baby was admitted in NICU after taking consent from parents and put on ventilator support. Parents were counseled regarding the extreme prematurity and its complication.
All necessary investigations were sent and treatment was started with I/V fluids, I/V antibiotics and other supportive treatment. An initial investigation revealed septicaemia and chest X ray suggestive of respiratory distress syndrome for which injection was given for lung maturity.
The ventilator support was continued for 10 days then baby was extubated and weaned-off to NIV CPAP support, said Dr Nagpal.
He further said that parenteral nutrition started on day 1. Feeds were started with minimal enteral feeding and were gradually built up. NIV CPAP support was continued for next few weeks. Baby had prematurity related problems like apnea, anemia, hypocalcemia, and neonatal seizure.
Baby responded well to the treatment. Regular monitoring was done. Laser therapy was given as advised by the Ophthalmologist. Gradually feeds were building up and the baby shifted from tube feeding to oral spoon feeding and then to direct breastfeeding, said Dr Nagpal.
During discharge, the baby was stable hemodynamically, accepting feed well and gaining weight.  She was discharged after 35 weeks gestational age with a discharge weight of 1.45 kg, said Dr Nagpal.