Illustrative photo (Photo: laodong.vn) Hanoi (VNA)– Doctors in hospitals in Vietnam have mastered advanced techniques to savepremature babies weighing only 400 grams.
About 20years ago, doctors could handle cases in which newborns were at least one kg.
The National Hospitalof Obstetrics and Gynecology on January 3 announced that its doctors hadsuccessfully nurtured a 500-gram premature baby weighing only 500 grams at 25 weeks' gestation.
Dr. Le Minh Trac,Director of the hospital’s Centre for Neonatal Care and Treatment, said thatpremature and low-weight newborns are at high risk of feeding difficulties andbeing susceptible to infection. Doctors have successfully applied strategies toraise extremely low birth weight babies such as intubation from the beginning,early massage, and early feeding.
The baby was fed breastmilk from the beginning and completely gastrointestinal on day 12. In the 40thday, the baby got pneumonia, however, after that, he got better.
With the efforts of the centre’s doctors and nurses, the baby thrived spectacularly.Overcoming all difficulties, on January 3, the baby was 97 days old (equivalentto 38 weeks' gestation), weighing 2 kilos. The baby could breatheair on his own and smile spontaneously. He also had a good sucking reflex.
The success is a resultof very strict care of pregnant women and newborns by obstetricians andpediatricians at the National Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Earlier, in September2021, the hospital made a record when saving an infant weighing just400 grams.
Now, the survival rateamong premature infants with the weight of 1-1.5 kg reaches nearly 90% whilethose with the weight of less than 1 kg have a survial rate of nearly 30%.
In February this year,doctors at the Hanoi Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology saved a newborn whoweighed only 400 grams after 27 weeks' gestation.
According to doctors,the baby faced the risk of asphyxiation in the delivery room and respiratoryfailure after birth.
After 20 minutes ofintensive resuscitation, the baby's beige skin was pinker, and the baby hadreflexes of limbs and opened her eyes. The baby was put on a ventilator andtransferred to an incubator. After nearly four months, thanks to intensivetreatment and nurturing, the baby was 2.1 kg and was returned to her mother.
Another 400-grampremature baby was born at Bach Mai Hospital on August 3, 2022, in 22 weeksand four days of pregnancy.
She was the mostpremature and smallest baby that has been saved in Vietnam.
According to thehospital, the infant was raised in an incubator for three months and four days.After that, she was transferred to intensive care room.
At that time, a USexpert examined her and was surprised that her brain was developing normallydespite she was born very prematurely.
Doctors at differentdepartments in Bach Mai Hospital joined hands to save and raise hersuccessfully.
Ten years ago,Vietnam's obstetrics and gynecology marked a milestone when it successfully saveda premature baby weighing 500 grams.
The number ofsuccessful cases has increased year by year. The survival rate of prematurebabies under one kilo increased from 18% to 40% in 2011.
In the US which has the most advancedneonatal care techniques, the premature birth rate of infants weighing 500grams is 41%, while the rate at Vietnam’s National Hospital of Obstetrics andGynecology is 31%./.
