Coronavirus-infected woman delivers healthy baby boy at AIIMS Delhi

The parents, the newborn, and his three-year-old sister are housed in the isolation facility in the new private ward of the hospital.

A woman diagnosed with Covid-19 on Thursday delivered a healthy baby boy at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Friday afternoon. She is married to a 28-year-old senior resident from the physiology department, who also tested positive for the viral infection on the same day.

The parents, the newborn, and his three-year-old sister are housed in the isolation facility in the new private ward of the hospital. (Amal KS/HT PHOTO)

The boy is the first baby to be born to a Covid-19 positive mother in India.

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The parents, the newborn, and his three-year-old sister are housed in the isolation facility in the new private ward of the hospital. The 28-year-old doctor’s brother has also tested positive for the infection, and has been admitted to the hospital.

“The mother and child are both healthy and in the isolation ward. The newborn should be fine, but we will keep an eye on him for the infection. The mother was also not really symptomatic. She just developed a sore throat today,” said Dr Neerja Bhatla, professor of gynaecology and acting head of the department at AIIMS.

The baby was due next week, but doctors decided to go for an emergency caesarean section to deliver the baby.

Anticipating the challenge of a pregnant Covid-19 positive woman, doctors from the gynaecology department at AIIMS had already made arrangements for a temporary operation theatre (OT), which was built last week in the hospital’s new out-patient clinic department.

The hospital is in the process of converting the Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre to a dedicated Covid-19 facility, with an OT for patients with the infection. In the meanwhile, doctors had to bring in OT light and anaesthesia table to convert the minor OT in the OPD block to a major one for the surgery.

The building was empty since the hospital has stopped out-patient services.

“The trauma centre OT for Covid-19 patients should open up soon. For the time being, we brought in OT lights and anaesthesia table from different departments to convert the minor OT into a major OT. Draping was also put up in the haematology department area of the OPD to create separate areas to put on PPE (personal protective equipment), sanitise, and take off the protective gear,” said Dr Bhatla.

To prevent infections, staff entering the OT had to put on the protective gear — the full-body suit, goggles, shoe covers, and masks — before entering. All the blood collection and testing before the surgery was done once the pregnant woman was inside the OT, to judiciously use the PPE. Afterwards, the staff had to take off the gear properly, following a checklist and sanitise themselves before stepping out.

Passageways were cordoned off and a green corridor-like clearance path was created to bring the woman in to the OT area.

“Everybody worked well as a team, and we were able to pull this off without a hitch,” said Dr Bhatla.

The authorities have been unable to trace the source of infection as the resident doctor did not have a history of travelling abroad nor had he treated any Covid-19 patients.