Mangalore: New Lease of Life for Quadruplet Babies at Indiana Hospital

Media Release

Mangalore, Apr 3: A very rare case of four babies of same sex in a single birth (quadruplets) surviving and progressing for nearly a month now, thanks to the team effort of highly qualified doctors and medical personals led by Dr Ali Kumble in tertiary centre, lndiana hospital was reported here.
 
Aysha Tahira and Latheef hailing from Kasargod were childless for many years. After a prolonged period of waiting Aysha conceived, but the happiness did not last very long as she delivered four premature babies in a single birth. Gynecologist Dr Veena Manjunath was her doctor.

The parents were informed that the chance of survival of these babies was extremely rare. Quadruplets occur once in 70 lac births. Such babies' survival for more than one week is extremely rare, especially if they are very premature. Also, it is a very expensive procedure and life support is required in a high-tech care center to make them survive.

The couple's babies were admitted at Indiana hospital's NICU on March 11. A team of doctors led by Dr Ali Kumble took it as a challenge and with their effort the babies survived. Financial support was offered by the hospital management as the father is not in a position to support all the four babies.

What makes the case still more fascinating is that babies are identical quadruplets, a phenomenon which occurs once in every 13 million births. There are only 60 such cases on record worldwide and it is extremely challenging to ensure they survive into infancy especially if they are born premature at 26 weeks of pregnancy and weigh between 500 to 900 grams .

Multiple pregnancies are high risk pregnancies and are associated with increased neonatal morbidity and mortality. The frequency of multiple pregnancies has increased in the past two decades, mostly as a result of assisted reproductive techniques for infertile couples.
 
The average period of gestation in quadruplet pregnancy is 31.2 weeks and the average weight is 1.362 kg as per the literature available. In this case the period of gestation was only 26 weeks and the weights were 900 grams for the first two and 580 grams for the other two offspring, the average weight being only 740 grams. This is perhaps the first such case of preterm identical quadruplets that goes on record in India.
 
The babies pose serious challenges to both the pediatricians and the family. Right from ensuring their survival to the many complications they may develop during their course of hospital stay. "We need to ensure they maintain a normal breathing pattern and tolerate the feed given to them. Strict hygiene and sanitation to avoid sepsis is a benchmark for ensuring survival of such extremely low birth weight babies. That's why handling and care is undertaken by skilled and experienced nurses assigned specifically for this role," said Dr Yusuf Kumble, MD of Indiana hospital.
 
"We have taken utmost caution in providing only the mother's milk to the newborns. They have now entered the 4th week of life when chances of intolerance to feeds are high. Survival of such babies beyond the first 4 weeks of life greatly improves the clinical outcome," he added.
 
"With this, Indiana hospital and Heart Institute's medical team achieved a new milestone in Indian pediatric healthcare," Dr Kumble declared.

Dr Kumble also urged the general public to make use of this ultramodern and affordable medical facility provided by Indiana Hospital and Heart Institute and lead a healthy life.