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Assam baby weighs 5.2 kgs at birth, doctors call it state record
A team of senior doctors at the government hospital performed the caesarean section procedure on Tuesday afternoon.
A woman in Assam’s Silchar has delivered a baby boy weighing 5.2 kilograms which doctors claim to be the heaviest weight at birth for a newborn in the state, HT has learnt.
“It was a case of late delivery but we didn’t realise that the baby will weigh 5.2 kilograms. As per our knowledge, it is the heaviest baby ever born in Assam to date. The average weight of newborns in Assam is around 2.5 kilograms. There were newborns weighing around 4 kilograms in past but 5.2 kilograms for a newborn is a unique case. We have discussed with our senior officials and they also agreed with us,” said Dr Hanif Md. Afsar Alam Laskar of Satindra Mohan Dev Civil Hospital.
A team of senior doctors at the government hospital performed the caesarean section procedure on Tuesday afternoon. This is the second child of Jaya Das and Badal Das, their first child weighed around 3.8 kilograms during birth.
Doctors at Satindra Mohan Dev Civil Hospital, Silchar of Cachar district, claim that the baby was the heaviest child ever born in Assam. Dr Hanif Md. Afsar Alam Laskar, assisted by nurse Roselyn, Manjarul and anaesthetist Dr Rajat Deb, performed the caesarean operation on Jaya Das at Silchar civil hospital.
Dr Laskar said the family delayed the process fearing Covid-19 infection. “In most of the cases, babies arrive between 38th and 42nd week of pregnancy. When babies don’t arrive by week 42, they are considered post-term or delayed delivery. In this case, the mother’s admission to the hospital was delayed. Her delivery date was due on May 29 but she wasn’t admitted at that time because her family was hesitant to go to hospitals amid the pandemic. Thankfully we managed to save the mother and the newborn.”
Badal Das, father of the newborn said, “This is our second child, the first one weighed around 4 kilograms. But that was a different time, today covid infected patients are being treated in every hospital. I was a bit hesitant about taking my pregnant wife to a government hospital but finally, we had to take the decision to take her to the hospital. Thankfully, doctors have saved my wife and the child.”
Initially, the family was advised to go to Silchar Medical College and Hospital but they decided against it because of many Covid-19 patients in the hospital.
Hospital authorities have requested everyone to reach out to them on time even if the pregnant mother is Covid-19 positive. There were several cases when the mother was Covid-19 infected but the doctors did not hesitate in performing the cesarean operation for the delivery.
