The baby girl is one of the rare cases in which extremely premature and low-birth-weight infants have been successfully treated at Hanoi Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital. She arrived after her parents’ four-year struggle, finally conceived through in-vitro fertilization (IVF). 

Previously, the couple had experienced the pain of losing a child at 21 weeks due to premature birth, so this pregnancy was monitored closely from the beginning.

With a history of threatened preterm labor due to a short cervix, the mother, 27: underwent twice cervical cerclage at weeks 12 and 22. Later, she was admitted to Ward A4 for pregnancy preservation, receiving lung maturation drugs and Magnesium sulfate, with preparations made for the worst-case scenario.

On January 14, at 24 weeks and six days, the mother showed signs of labor and delivered a 600g baby girl. Immediately after birth, the infant faced severe respiratory distress, requiring intensive resuscitation in the delivery room before being transferred to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. There, she was placed on CPAP ventilation and given surfactant to support breathing.

However, the baby's recovery journey was not easy. On the 12th day after birth, the baby suffered from severe bronchopneumonia, causing severe respiratory failure, forcing her to be switched to a ventilator for 26 days, CPAP for 23 days, and two consecutive courses of antibiotics. 

After 60 days of special care in an incubator, the baby was stable enough to meet and interact with her mother for the first time using the Kangaroo method. The first hug was only a few dozen minutes of skin-to-skin contact, but for the mother, it was connection and the revival of maternal love after months of only being able to see her child through glass.

From that moment on, the little girl seemed to gain strength. She progressed well as she was gradually weaned off the ventilator, breastfed, and gained weight. At the 38th week, she was able to breathe completely on her own, digest well, and weigh 3 kilograms, a miraculous milestone for a baby who was once as small as a span.

She has since been discharged from the hospital, and the family said that in the 21 days she has been at home, she has gained 1 kilogram.

Vo Thu