A pre-term female baby born with a low birth weight of 780 gram in November at the State-run Vani Vilas Hospital has now gained adequate weight and overall development thanks to Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) provided at the hospital.
KMC is a method of care for pre-term infants, which involves the infants being carried, usually by the mother, with skin-to-skin contact. The more skin-to-skin contact, the better, said doctors.
After several episodes of respiratory distress, apnea and feeding issues, the baby’s weight increased to 1,850 gram in 103 days. The baby was discharged on Tuesday.
Sahana Devdas, Chief of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the hospital, told The Hindu that the mother, 21-year-old Rabiya Sultana from Vijaynagar, gave birth to triplets at 26 weeks on November 9. While the first baby weighing 780 gram survived, the other two male babies weighing 720 and 700 grams died within 10 minutes of birth.
“If everything was normal, the mother should have delivered the baby on February 16. Now, the mother has been advised to continue KMC even at home till the baby’s weight increases to at least 2.5 kg,” she said.
Medical Superintendent Geeta Shivamurthy said the patient was brought to Vani Vilas in a critical condition.
“Of the nearly 1,600 babies born in the hospital every month, nearly 40% are pre-term babies. We have been successfully providing kangaroo care to such babies,” she said.
