Cherry, with birth weight of 375 grams, is the smallest surviving baby in South East Asia. Pioneer Health reports
In yet another medical marvel reported out of India, Hyderabad is home to South East Asia’s smallest baby. Baby girl Cherry was born to proud parents Nitika and Saurabh hailing from Chhattisgarh and delivered at Rainbow Children’s Hospital in Hyderabad.
She was born premature at 25 weeks gestation under the extensive care received at the hands of a multi-disciplinary team of medical experts led by Dr Dinesh Kumar Chirla, Director, Intensive Care Services at Rainbow Hospitals. The baby was discharged weighing 1.980 Kg.
This was Nitika’s fifth pregnancy. She had four previous abortions. This was her only chance to have a live baby. Around 24 weeks the ultrasound showed that there was very less amniotic fluid around baby. She weighed just 350 grams. The blood flow from mother to baby was severely compromised. There was no way baby would have survived in womb. Parents consulted many hospitals and doctors. No one gave any chance for survival. They were than referred to Rainbow Children’s Hospital.
The parents then met the neonatologist and the team assured the couple that they routinely manage babies born as early as 24 to 25 weeks of gestation. However, the smallest baby saved earlier was 449 gm.
The Perinatal team comprising an anesthetist, senior gynecologist and neonatologist came up with a detailed delivery plan. Nitika delivered the baby girl on February 27, weighing 375 gm. She was only 20 cms in length and fitted in the palm.
Speaking about Cherry’s case, Dr Ramesh Kancharla, Chairman and Managing Director, of the Rainbow Group of Hospitals said, “twenty years of hard work has gone in to developing the expertise to save small babies. A dedicated nursing team was instrumental in saving Cherry. The Neonatal Intensive Care unit is the most advanced and well equipped in the country,” he added.
Elaborating on the case, Dr Dinesh Kumar Chirla, Director Intensive Care Services, said: “The initial three-four days post birth are very crucial as babies are most fragile during this time. In this case, there were many health challenges like a drop in oxygen and BP level. Owing to the size of the baby, we had to find the smallest possible breathing tube to be inserted. Moreover, the baby had a heart problem which normally closes in everyone after birth but did not in Cherry's case, causing oxygenation for which we had to give special medication and keep the baby on ventilator for breathing support. Fortunately for this child, there was no bleeding in the brain.”
On Day five, Cherry had bleeding in her lungs and needed to be shifted to special ventilator called High Frequency Oscillation ventilator. She was successfully managed. She was kept on a ventilator for nearly 105 days.
Cherry's case was a particularly complicated one with multiple hurdles including jaundice, feeding difficulties, multiple blood transfusion and chronic lung disease.
She was discharged after spending 128 days in hospital. She is breathing without support. She is feeding directly. She is maintaining temperature and looks like any other normal baby.