Mumbai doctors save micro-preemie baby born at 23 weeks weighing 620 grams

Mumbai: In a rare case, doctors here have given a new lease of life to a micro-preemie baby girl born at 23 weeks, weighing just 620 grams.

Micro-preemies are babies born at an extremely low birthweight (ELBW), below 1,000 grams.

Baby Yahavi was born to a Mumbai-based couple Santosh and Jayprakash on September 30, 2023.

In her 21st week of pregnancy, Santosh had to be hospitalised at Cloudnine Hospitals in Malad due to a urinary tract infection.

Yahavi was born at 23.6 weeks through a normal vaginal delivery but weighed a mere 620 grams.

Due to the extreme prematurity, Yahavi faced respiratory distress syndrome along with a mild infection, and was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the hospital for 88 days, the doctors said in a statement. She was kept on ventilator support for 50 days.

The baby was administered medications to expand her lung capacity, alongside essential ventilation support. She was also given parenteral nutrition comprising protein, lipids, and glucose, supplemented with expressed breast milk delivered via a feeding tube, the doctors said.

"The challenges faced by babies as tiny as Yahavi, often referred to as micro-preemies, are susceptible to chronic lung disease or bronchopulmonary dysplasia. In Yahavi's case, she required ventilation support for nearly 50 days to facilitate oxygen delivery and aid in the development of her lungs, enabling them to function and breathe normally," said Tanushri Mukherjee, Consultant Neonatologist & Paediatrician at Cloudnine Group of Hospitals, Mumbai, Malad, in the statement.

"Yahavi was given two blood transfusions as micro preemies tend to have low haemoglobin stores, and their bone marrow is still maturing," the doctor added.

Further, they also treated a minor haemorrhage within her brain, which was revealed via ultrasonography of her head.

"Despite the initial hurdles, Yahavi demonstrated remarkable progress. Within the first few weeks, she exhibited steady weight gain," the doctors said, emphasising her exclusive consumption of mother's milk -- a critical component in her journey towards recovery.

Yahavi was discharged home from the hospital after 88 days of NICU stay with a weight of 2.2 kg. She was taking full oral feeding, and breastfeeding, and was without any oxygen support, the doctor said.

"Currently, Yahavi is seven months old with a corrected age of 3 months. Her subsequent hearing tests, ultrasonography, and blood tests are normal," Tanushri said.