Baby, weighing 400 gm at birth, survives

In a rare case, a baby girl weighing 400 grams at birth survived and is ready to be discharged after six months on Friday. The hospital claims that Seeta is the smallest baby ever to survive, not only in India but also in South Asia.

Seeta was born to a labourer couple, who are in their early 50s, on June 15, 2017. Born through a caesarean section, she weighed just 400 grams and measured 8.6 inches, her minuscule feet slightly bigger than a fingernail. "She was not breathing when she was born. But the couple decided to fight to keep her alive. We were uncertain of what could happen. The baby required breathing support and was immediately transferred to neonatal ICU," said Dr Sunil Janged, chief neonatologist at Jivanta Hospital.  

Now, after a 210-day stay in ICU, Seeta will be discharged on Friday. She weighs close to 2.4 kg now. As per the doctors treating Seeta, her brain is structurally normal and eyes are also developing normal. Doctors call her an angel after her miraculous survival, and have named her Manushi.

Confirming her survival as a rare case, noted gynaecologist Dr Vimla Jain, former superintendent of Mahila Chikatsalay of Jaipur, told DH, "Usually babies who are born weighing under 500 grams have less chances of survival. Her survival is rare. Usually body organs of underweight babies, including lungs, heart, brain, kidneys, intestine, skin and adrenals don't work properly and need artificial support, hence they can't survive."

As per the hospital, the last reported case of "smallest survival" was Rajni, weighing 450 grams, at Mohali, Chandigarh, in 2012.