In Gujarat, pregnant Covid patient delivers preterm baby at 7 months, newborn tests positive for infection

Indian Express

2 days ago

A 20-year-old pregnant woman, admitted to GMERS Sola Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad on May 13 after a week of respiratory distress, was diagnosed with Covid-19 on May 21. During treatment, she went into labour in the seventh month of her pregnancy and delivered a child on May 27.
On Friday, the preterm newborn, already in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), was diagnosed with Covid-19 while his mother tested negative for the infection.
This three-day-old child is among 265 active Covid patients in Gujarat, according to a bulletin by the Health department – the first such official statement from the state government during the current lot of cases being reported across several states in India.
The new mother, said doctors, had not been availing of regular Ante Natal Care (ANC). She had arrived at the hospital on May 13 with decreased foetal movement and complained of 'on and off fever' and had a cough since the past fortnight, they added.
Initial medical tests showed that she was suffering from oligo-hydramnios, which is decreased levels of amniotic fluid. She was placed under medical management. But suddenly, after three days, she developed severe breathlessness along with the fever, they said.
Doctors said they conducted several tests, including Electrocardiography (ECH), Echocardiogram, X-rays and so on but didn't find the cause of her breathlessness. However, since Covid cases had started being reported from several parts of India by that time, doctors decided to test her for the same.
On May 21, she tested positive for Covid-19 and was immediately placed on the Non-Rebreather Mask (NRBM) receiving concentrated oxygen support, and moved to the Respiratory Intensive Care Unit (RICU) of the hospital. The woman does not have Covid vaccination history.
While her medical condition was not critical, it was not 'very good either', said doctors, adding that she was in the care of a multi-speciality team including Obstetricians and Pulmonologists.
On May 27, she went into early labour in just the 34th week of her pregnancy. The baby was delivered normally. When asked if the labour had been induced by some other cause, the Obstetrician said, 'Any viral infection can cause preterm labour.'
The 'early pre-term' child had a birth weight of 1.7 kg and had no developmental issues, said doctors.
The child was placed in the NICU and his nasopharyngeal swab was also taken when his mother's second test was conducted on Thursday. On Friday, the mother tested negative while the newborn was positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, the result of his whole genome sequencing (WGS) is still awaited, said the hospital administration.
Meanwhile, the 20-year-old mother is still on BiPAP (bilevel positive airway pressure), a type of non-invasive ventilation, as she is not able to maintain blood oxygen saturation levels. However, she is awake and is feeding the child, said doctors. It is suspected that the child got infected during this period.
So far, 291 cases of the infection have been reported in Gujarat. Of the 265 active cases, 11 patients, including the child, are admitted to hospitals while the other 254 patients are in home isolation. There have not been any officially reported deaths so far.
According to the health department, Omicron sub-variants of Covid, including LF.7.9 and XFG Recombinant, are predominant in Gujarat. The government has advised taking precautionary measures and not panicking since the rising trend of cases is being monitored for the last 6-8 months.