SUM Pediatricians battle against odds to save premature baby

Pediatricians at the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital here have been able to battle heavy odds to save the life of a pre-mature baby boy who weighed just 560 grams at birth.

The baby, conceived through in-vitro fertilization (IVF), was born through Caesarean Section after 25 completed weeks and the low weight caused its condition to turn critical.

“We put the baby in invasive ventilation in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit immediately for a prolonged period as it developed all complications of pre-mature birth,” Dr. Debasish Nanda, Head of Department of Neonatology in the hospital, said.

The baby was put on non-invasive ventilation for almost four months as survival of such babies was less than 50 per cent, he said adding “it was great that we could save the life of the baby through continuous effort.”

Besides Dr. Nanda, the team of neonatologists who treated the baby included Dr. Ratan Kumar Das, Dr. Bijay Kumar, Dr. Bineet Panigrahi, Dr. Bhabagrahi Mallick, Dr. Kalpita Sahu, Dr. Payal Pradhan, Dr. Debi Prasad Sahu, Dr. Bhagyashree Mohapatra and Dr. S. Maneesha. “The team of doctors, nurses and other para-medics took great care of the baby,” Dr. Nanda said.

Dr. Pusparaj Samantasinhar, Medical Superintendent of the hospital, extended all necessary technical and logistic support which went a long way in successfully treating the baby, Dr. Nanda said adding the parents of the baby were extremely delighted at the recovery of their child and thanked the hospital.