Nagpur: Three extremely premature babies, including one who weighed less than half a kilogram at birth, have beaten the odds to survive and return home, bringing immense joy to their families.Born months before the standard 40-week pregnancy term, the fragile infants needed intensive care to overcome life-threatening complications associated with extreme prematurity.Two were born at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Nagpur and admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) immediately after birth, while the third was brought to the hospital in critical condition on the fourth day of life. All three were discharged after nearly three months of intensive care.“These babies were born at the very edge of survival, and every day of their journey was a triumph of teamwork,” said Dr Prashant Joshi, executive director of AIIMS Nagpur.According to hospital adminsitration, one infant, born at just 24 weeks of gestation and weighing 600 grams, is the youngest survivor by gestational age ever cared for at the hospital’s NICU. Another, weighing a mere 480 grams at birth, is the smallest survivor by birth weight treated at the facility.The babies required prolonged breathing support and round-the-clock care as they battled severe complications, including patent ductus arteriosus (a heart vessel that fails to close after birth), retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), an eye disorder, and bronchopulmonary dysplasia, a chronic lung disease. A multidisciplinary team managed these complications through vigilant monitoring and timely intervention, helping the infants gradually gain strength.The third baby, born at 26 weeks and weighing just 630 grams, was brought to AIIMS Nagpur in critical condition. The infant’s survival holds special significance for the family: the mother’s eighth pregnancy followed the devastating loss of seven previous pregnancies. Desperate to save her baby, she travelled from outside Maharashtra to seek specialised care at the institute. After weeks of treatment and close monitoring, the baby recovered and was discharged in good health, doctors said.Faculty members from the department of neonatology — Dr Nishant Banait, Dr Sanjana Somanath, Dr Amit Kumar and Dr Arun Edwin — worked alongside resident doctors, nursing officers and support staff throughout the infants’ treatment.“For infants this small, every gram and every hour matters. Their recovery was possible because doctors, nurses, and support staff worked as one team, and because the parents trusted us and stayed with their babies through the long weeks of care,” said Dr Banait.Congratulating the neonatology team, Joshi said the institute remained committed to ensuring that the smallest and most vulnerable newborns received world-class care, regardless of where they came from.
