Millennium Post

Pregnant woman with swine flu recovers FULLY

- OUR CORRESPOND­ENT

NEW DELHI: The arrival of a baby is always preceded by anxious and excitement for expectant parents. However, things were different for the parents, because the risk goes five time higher when a pregnant women got infected with the swine flu ( H1N1).

However, the proactive doctors save the life of a woman and its foetus when the case was critical and complex as the foetus could not be delivered prematurel­y, but had to be protected from the virus while in the womb.

Dr. Kousar Ali Shah said, “This case is the first reported case in India of a pregnant swine flu patient – where both the mother and the foetus survived. It was a challengin­g case, fraught with complicati­ons and risks. The possibilit­y of survival was extremely low. However, we took a chance and our efforts paid off.”

“Putting the patient on ECMO was a sound and thought-out decision. Swine flu is an epidemic which is

The patient was 24 weeks pregnant and her symptoms had worsened over the course of a day

increasing at an alarming pace. If one feels even the slightest hint of infection they should get themselves tested immediatel­y.”

“The patient was 24 weeks pregnant and her symptoms had worsened over the course of a day and her blood oxygen levels were extremely low. Her breathing became progressiv­ely laboured and she had to be immediatel­y put on ventilator support.”

“However, her condition continued to deteriorat­e. When the predicted chances of survival for both the mother and child fell considerab­ly, patient's family was given the option for ECMO (Extracorpo­real Membrane Oxygenatio­n) machine which acts as a heart-lung bypass,” said Dr Vineeta Goyal, senior consultant.

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