A Miracle Baby Indeed.

Meet India's miracle baby

By: Alifiya Khan   Date:  2011-02-18   Place: Pune

Now 4-month-old and 2.4 kg, baby weighing 495 grams at birth is smallest surviving infant in India, say docs Survivor: The baby weighed 495 kg at birth In what is being termed as a scientific miracle, a pre-term baby girl weighing just 495 grams at birth ” probably the smallest in the country ” was presented to the world by the Oyster and Pearl Tulip Hospital after three-and-half months of care. On an average, a baby weighs 2.5-3 kg at birth. The infant, said to be the baby with the lowest birth weight to survive in the country, was born premature at 27 weeks of pregnancy on October 2. She had to be kept in neo-natal care for 90 days. Doctors waited until the baby reached a "safe survival period" and reported the incident only after it had attained a weight of 2.4 kg. A team of senior hospital doctors led by Dr Avinash Phadnis, director of obstetrics and gynaecology, and neo-natologist Dr Tushar Parikh have been involved in taking care of the baby so far. Doctors said the girl, who is yet to be named, was born to Narayangaon resident Shaila Pawar (36), who had a bad obstetric history. This was Pawar's 14th pregnancy. The previous 13 pregnancies were unsuccessful, with three abortions and three intra-uterine deaths. "She went to a doctor couple in Narayangaon, who realised that she might have hypertension related complications and referred her case to us when she was six months pregnant. She was put under the care of Dr Avinash Phadnis and put on anti-hypertensive pills to keep the blood pressure in control," said senior obstretician Dr Neena Sathe. A few days later Pawar had sudden elevation in blood pressure at home and she was rushed to Oyster and Pearl Tulip by her gynaecologist, where doctors decided to do an emergency caesarean after looking at her condition. "Pawar's baby was born premature, weighing just 495 grams at birth. The baby required artificial breathing support to regularise her breathing and then she was quickly transferred to the neo-natal ICU," said Dr Tushar Parikh. "To salvage the life of such a small baby was challenging as there were no reports of a baby weighing so little surviving in India." The doctor said the last reported smallest survival was a baby weighing 540 grams. According to doctors, babies born this small have extremely poor function of all body organs, including the lungs, heart, brain, kidneys, intestine, skin and adrenals. All of these organs need support for the survival of the child. The baby stayed in the neo-natal ICU for almost 90 days and when discharged, its weight was close to 1,400 grams. "We could have reported this case much earlier, but we wanted to ensure that the baby continues to grow normally and remains healthy after discharge. Now the baby is four-month-old and her weight is 2.4 kg,"