Dubai: A premature baby girl weighing just 631 grams was delivered at Medeor 24X7 Hospital, Abu Dhabi. The smallest patient was born prematurely at 26.5-week gestation, a hospital spokesperson said.

Dubbed as a ‘miracle baby’, the little girl was safely delivered after a high-risk pregnancy due to the efforts and expertise of the multi-speciality obstetrics section and advanced Level 3 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) led by Dr Govinda Shenoy, head, Neonatology Unit, and Dr Mary Roberts, senior obstetrician, with the assistance of experienced medical staff from the hospital’s anaesthesiology, intensive care, cardiology, ophthalmology and radiology departments along with expert laboratory personnel. The baby who was discharged last month after a three-month stay at the NICU weighed nearly 2kg.

Dr Shenoy said: “The timely intervention and delivery of the baby was important as the mother, who had a high-risk pregnancy, came to us displaying symptoms of severe pre-eclampsia, which is a pregnancy-related complication that is accompanied by high blood pressure and potential damage to organs. She was also carrying a growth-retarded foetus with oligo-hydramnios (a lack of amniotic fluid around the foetus) and absent end diastolic flow (a condition which increases the risk of fetal and neonatal mortality). The baby was successfully delivered by a Lower (uterine) Segment Caesarean Section (LSCS) procedure, after which both the mother and infant were kept under careful observation. The baby was placed under the care of the expert neonatology team in the state-of-the-art neonatal unit.”

Dr Shenoy said the care of preterm babies was critical especially for infants as young as 26 weeks and weighing under 1000gm, as these factors could pose several serious health risks for the child. “These include respiratory distress syndrome, pneumothorax (abnormal collection of fluid in the pleural area), bronchopulmonary dysplasia, intraventricular and intracranial bleeding leading to post-haemorrhagic hydrocephalus, patent ductus arteriosis (a condition that causes cardiac problems), retinopathy caused by prematurity that can lead to blindness, birth asphyxia, hypoxia and haemorrhage leading to convulsions and other neurological deficits later in life.

“Other dreaded complications include septicaemia and meningitis and the possibility of developing necrotising enterocolitis (where portions of the bowel undergo necrosis or tissue death). Feeding problems, intolerance of feeds and electrolyte imbalance is quite common. Anaemia caused due to prematurity (which requires multiple blood transfusions) and osteopenia (a medical condition in which the protein and mineral content of bone tissue is reduced) are other problems commonly seen in preterm babies who are severely underweight,” said Dr Shenoy.

Dr Shenoy also said that the hospital had recently seen an increase in the demand for intensive care for more preterm babies. “We are well positioned and trained to fulfil the demands of the community and provide the best overall care for babies in Abu Dhabi,” he said.