Woman on ventilator delivers baby at Apollo Indraprastha Hospitals, Delhi!

A 31-year-old woman suffering from swine flu delivered a baby boy despite being on ventilator at Apollo Indraprastha Hospitals, Delhi, which doctors term as near miracle. Manjit Rani, a resident of Gurgaon, was eight months pregnant when she contracted swine flu.

Doctors at Indraprastha Apollo hospitals, where she was admitted last month with severe breathing problem, said Rani was unable to maintain her oxygenation even with oxygen support.

“”She was in severe respiratory distress and oxygen levels in her body were very low. We put her on non-invasive ventilator support immediately to support breathing but it did not help. Finally, we took a consensus decision after consulting the obstetrician to conduct an emergency cesarean,”” said Dr Avdhesh Bansal, senior consultant respiratory and critical care at Apollo hospital. Bansal said the surgery went off well. “”The mother continued to be critical. On the other hand, the baby was also in a critical state as his echo showed – severe heart disease (narrowing of aorta). It was like a raining of troubles,”” the doctor said.

A team cardiac surgeons conducted surgery on the pre-term baby weighing only 2.2 kilograms to remove the diseased part of aorta and join the normal ends together even as her mother battled for survival. “”It took them 18 days to recover and presently both mother and the baby are fine and discharged on few weeks ago,”” said another senior doctor.

Medical experts say women infected with swine flu viruses are five times more likely to lose their baby during pregnancy or just after giving birth due to defects.