Cooling therapy breathes life into newborn baby

Bengaluru: An infant born at Rainbow Children's Hospital did not cry and breathe. But he did not give up. The neonatalogists at the hospital say that the new-born took 11 minutes to take his first breath.

The doctors gave the baby boy cooling therapy. The hospital claims to be the first in North Bengaluru to provide cooling therapy to asphyxiated newborns and this is a ray of hope to all the parents from Bellari, Devanahalli, Chickballapur, Anantpur, Hindupur and other places in the belt.

"The baby boy, born through vaginal delivery, was floppy with poor Apgar scores. When born with challenging conditions, the doctors diagnosed the baby with Stage 2 Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy. So to cure him, our experts used therapeutic hypothermia method, which is also called whole body cooling method," the hospital stated.

Dr. Pradeep Kumar Consultant – Neonatology & Pediatrics said, "This is a very rare scenario and is observed in 2% of live births but contributes for 20% of Neonatal deaths. Perinatal Asphyxia happens because of decreased blood flow from mother to placenta and to baby,impaired oxygenation to the baby reduced gas exchange across placenta and increased Fetal oxygen requirement."

Talking about the procedure, and the mental state of the parents, Dr. Sreedhara, the Consultant – Neonatology & Pediatrics, who treated the baby right from day 1 said, "The parents were in a state of emotional shock, despair and denial. As clinicians, in addition to giving the best clinical care to the infant, we counselled the parents in such a way that they understand the clinical condition of the baby. We made sure they are ready to accept and face the short term and long-term challenges."

The baby was cooled for 72 hours and slowly rewarmed over 12 hours. He was monitored closely for vitals and systemic functions and seizures were treated appropriately with medications. After an MRI, the baby was normal in condition and after a neurological examination, and was discharged.