Pregnant woman with swine flu put on ventilator in Delhi hospital, both mother and foetus survive

The patient got high fever towards the end of December, and was prescribed a medicine for it by her physician. No tests were done as nobody suspected swine flu. Four days later, she started getting breathless.

In a last-ditch effort to save a six -months pregnant woman with swine flu (H1N1), a Delhi hospital put her on a heart-lung bypass machine. Twenty seven days later, she walked out of hospital with a healthy foetus.

Delhi has seen a spurt in the number of H1N1 cases, with the government reporting 1,011 cases till February 3 this year. (HT File)

“This case is the first one reported in India of a pregnant swine flu patient where both the mother and the foetus survived. It was a challenging case, fraught with complications and risks,” said Dr. Kousar Ali Shah, zonal director, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute where the patient was admitted.

Delhi has seen a spurt in the number of H1N1 cases, with the government reporting 1,011 cases till February 3 this year.

The patient, Swapnil Mishra, 30, got a high fever towards the end of December, and was prescribed a medicine for it by her physician. No tests were done as nobody suspected swine flu. Four days later, she started getting breathless.

“The doctors decided to take the risk of performing an X-ray, even though she was pregnant. The X-ray showed that her lungs were collapsing,” Raj Mishra, her husband, said. She was given tamiflu without waiting for a confirmatory test and put on a ventilator immediately.

The patient was discharged on January 26 and during a follow-up visit to her gynaecologist was told that the baby is healthy.