Woman delivers baby boy after complex pregnancy

Pune: After 18 years, eight failed attempts, high risk and a complex pregnancy, a 35-year-old woman delivered a baby boy at city-based Motherhood Hospital in Kharadi.

Anita and Virendra Tripathi from Pune had a tough time coping with four miscarriages and four newborn deaths in 18 years. Anita lost her first baby in 2002. Even after consulting various doctors in Pune and Delhi, nothing worked in the couple’s favour.

Though her pregnancy reports were normal, the baby wouldn’t survive. However, the couple didn’t lose hope. Each one was of great moral support to the other during this time.

Finally, their prayers were heard when Anita become pregnant in June 2018. Since her pregnancy was high risk and complicated, she was referred to specialists at Motherhood Hospital at 7 months of her pregnancy after she suddenly broke her waters. This happened in January 2019.

The patient was given medications to ensure fetal brain protection and lung maturity along with antibiotics to keep infection at bay. Medications were also given to temporarily halt the imminent delivery.

On January 11 this year, Anita gave birth to a premature baby boy ‘Rudransh’ weighing 1.3 kg. Dr Rajeshwari Pawar, Senior Consultant Obstetrician and Maternal-Fetal Medicine expert at Motherhood Hospital said that the aim was to pull on the pregnancy in utero as much as possible because there is ‘no incubator in the world as good as the womb’.

“However, care was taken to curb the chances of infection and complications to the baby in view of absent of bag of waters covering the fetus. The patient had to be delivered at 30 weeks when there were hints of the baby being in danger in the womb,” said Pawar.

Dr Sachin Bhise, Consultant Neonatologist at Motherhood Hospital, highlighted that after birth, the baby had trouble breathing, and required immediate breathing support in the delivery room.

“The baby was shifted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and given respiratory support with an advanced technique of a non-invasive ventilator. He was also given preventive measures to keep sepsis away and was provided nutritional support in the form of Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN),” said Bhise.

In NICU, the baby underwent screening for metabolic diseases in view of the mother’s previous newborn deaths and screening to look for retinopathy of prematurity along with other tests for brain, kidney and liver for congenital anomalies.

During her hospital stay, the mother was trained for Kangaroo care, feeding and hygienic care of baby. The baby weighed 1.7 kg at one month and was declared fit to go home.

Anita Tripathi, Rudransh’s mother, said that she was devastated after 8 failed pregnancies.

“When I was pregnant for the ninth time, there was a question about the baby’s survival. I would panic and constantly ask the doctor whether the baby is fine. But my joy knew no bounds when I heard my baby’s cry for the first time. Rudransh is 4-months old and is fine now,” said Tripathi.

Importance of being on time
“India accounts for 24 per cent of world’s premature deliveries and 40 per cent of low birth weight babies. Unfortunately, India also accounts for more than 80 per cent of total newborn deaths among low birth weight and premature babies. This baby’s case is a perfect example of how we can save extreme premature babies if they come to tertiary perinatal centre well in time. There is need to create awareness amongst people at large that if premature babies receive timely treatment, they can be saved and lead a normal life,”said Dr Tushar Parikh, Chief Neonatologist and In-charge of NICU at Motherhood Hospital.

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