Test tube baby changes rules of the game

Eastern India's youngest test tube baby has changed a few rules of the game by coming into the world barely six months after conception.

The baby boy, born to Kolkata-based Shampa Sarkar in an invitro fertilisation procedure, is a rare case as Indian pregnancies of less than 28 weeks are extremely rare, Dr Biman Ghosh, who headed the neo-natal team at a private nursing home said on Friday.

Ghosh claimed that at 25 weeks and four days the baby certainly was the youngest in this part of the country.

Though the baby, yet to be named by its overjoyed parents who turned to IVF as a last resort, was born on May 22, doctors delayed the announcement to make sure the boy was making progress and there was no danger to his survival.

The precaution was taken as the baby's twin died.

The surviving foetus grossly underweight at 650 grams has grown into a bonny child of over 1.5 kg, Ghosh said.
 
"As is quite normal with pre-term babies, there were quite a few instances of sepsis and secondary infections, which were countered successfully and the baby is hale and hearty now," he said.