Families go through tough times if a baby is born with health complications. The situation of families with preterm babies (before 37 weeks of pregnancy) is not hard to imagine: prayer on the lips, trying everything to help the baby recover, heightened concerns.
Niloufer Hospital’s neonatal department is witnessing a record number of 1,000 in-patient admissions per month with premature baby deliveries rising in hospitals. Of all the in-patients, nearly 6 per cent are less than 1 kg in weight, whereas 20 per cent of the in-patients are between 1-1.5 kg, say doctors.
With 1 in 10 newborns being born preterm and complications related to premature babies being high, there is a need to increase awareness among would-be parents. Babies born before 37-week gestation, at least three weeks earlier than the expected date of delivery, are termed premature babies.
Well-known neonatologist doctor Sai Sunil Kishore with the advances in technology and medical care, premature or preterm born babies can be saved, with normal outcomes.
While all non-COVID-19 services had come to a standstill during the pandemic, screening of newborns under the Karnataka Internet Assisted Diagnosis for Retinopathy of Prematurity (KIDROP) continued without any glitch. ROP is an eye disease that could cause blindness in premature babies.
On the occasion of World Breastfeeding Week, the Rainbow Group of Hospitals opened a “Mother’s Milk Bank” at its premises in Banjara Hills on Wednesday. Mother’s milk bank plays a crucial role in providing human milk to infants who are unable to receive their own mother’s milk.
