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World prematurity Day is a global initiative involving more than 60 countries and is supported by UNICEF, WHO, March of Dimes and Save the Children. The aim is to raise among the community the issues of prematurity. The first international awareness day for preterm birth on 17 November was created by European parent organizations in 2008. It has celebrated as World Prematurity Day since 2011.
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The famous people who were born Preterm are Sir Isaac Newton, Sir Winston Churchill, Mark Twain, Albert Einstein.
Rainbow has saved well over 5000 preterm babies, some of them were too small and critical to survive. Rainbow Hospitals, the children’s hospital with the largest neonatal intensive care unit beds in India mobilized the gathering of 445 Prematurely born kids under one roof to observe “World Prematurity Day” and to raise awareness about issues associated with the premature birth.
It is the largest ever gathering of prematurely born babies under one roof. It broke the four years old record of 386 babies set out in Argentina in the year 2012. It has gathering record number of kids and adolescents born before the 37 weeks of pregnancy. It is the new “Guinness World Record”, informed Dr. Dinesh Kumar Chirla, Director of Newborn Intensive Care Services at Rainbow Hospitals.
The record is very special and is the recognition to the yeoman service rendered by all at Rainbow Hospitals. Every child has the right to survive. And Rainbow Hospitals is one of the largest Neonatal Intensive Care Units and Service providers in the country, informed Dr. Ramesh Kancharla, CMD of Rainbow Hospitals. It is known for best care in modern pediatric medicine, delivered in its state of the art facilities, saved more than 3000 lives born less than 32 weeks. Of which are less than 28weeks. It is rare achievement, which not many can claim added Dr. Ramesh.
There are few units in the country that match to its state of the art advanced and hi-end intensive care facilities inform Dr. Dinesh.
We have over200 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) beds across the three states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and largest Neonatal Network in the country. Out of these 100 beds are in Hyderabad, informed Dr. Dinesh.
According to Dr. Ramesh Kancharla, CMD of Rainbow Hospitals, the survival rates at rainbow are comparable to developed countries. Many of the preterm babies whom all thought couldnot be saved are surviving. We have saved baby as early as 24 weeks gestation and as small as 449 grams birth weight. More than 400 babies whose birth was less than 1 kilogram survived at Rainbow. Those survivors are now leading a normal life without any major disabilities. Rainbow Hospitals monitors such kids progress frequently.
To observe the day and to spread awareness about the subject, we have invited 500 children. Infact if it reaches the magic number, it creates a record and goes in the annals of history.
Mr. K.T. Rama Rao, Minister for Information and Technology, Govt of Telangana and Prof Batra , Executive Director, National board of examination are also invited to grace the occasion.
A premature baby is one who is born too early, before 37 weeks. These babies may have more health problems and may need to stay in the hospital longer than babies born later.
There are three sub-categories of preterm birth—extremely preterm which is less than 28 weeks; very preterm between 28 to 32 weeks and moderate to late preterm, 32 to 36.6 weeks.
Some are premature births are preventable and some are not. The incidence of prematurity is 5 to 18 per cent of deliveries in different countries with average of 1 in 10 delivery at risk of prematurity.
There are many causes for premature birth: Teenage Pregnancy; Home Deliveries, Unhygienic deliveries; Multiple pregnancy, Fetal development, lifestyle factors, previous gynecological history etc and many other. Approximately 15 million babies are born preterm each year, accounting for about one in 10 of all babies born worldwide. Almost 1 million children die each year due to complications of preterm birth. Globally, prematurity is the leading cause of death in children under the age of 5.
According to Union Health Ministry, over three lakh children die annually in India making it the country with the highest number of infant deaths due to premature births.
India records highest infant deaths due to premature births:
"As per World Health Organization (WHO) Publication 'Born too Soon: The Global Action Report on Preterm Birth' out of an estimated annual 2.7 crore live births, in India 35 lakh babies are born preterm and out of these 3.03 lakh children die due to complication of preterm birth".More than three-quarters of premature babies can be saved with feasible, cost-effective care such as essential care during childbirth and in the postnatal period for every mother and baby, antenatal steroid injections (given to pregnant women at risk of preterm labour and under set criteria to strengthen the babies' lungs), kangaroo mother care (the baby is carried by the mother with skin-to-skin contact and frequent breastfeeding) and antibiotics to treat newborn infections.
To help reduce preterm birth rates, women need improved care before, between and during pregnancies. Better access to contraceptives and increased empowerment could also contribute to reduce preterm births.
November 17 is World Prematurity Day when we focus everyone's attention on the global problem of premature birth informed Dr. Dinesh. This year theme is high quality and family centric care.
Families, health professionals, hospitals, organizations and other stakeholders involved in preterm birth observe this day with media campaigns, local events, and other activities across the globe in 60 countries. It is believed that preterm babies have disability. We need to raise the awareness that by doing simple interventions we can save these precious lives. We need to give every life a chance to survive and ensure that by giving good care at birth, we not only save them but give chance for survival without any disability.
World Prematurity Day on November 17 raises awareness of this serious health crisis. Throughout the month we draw attention to the lifesaving research, treatments and community support made possible when we work together to give every baby a fighting chance, Dr. Dinesh stated.
Rainbow Children's Hospitals is at the forefront of the movement in India and tries to make this attempt to create a record, there by generate lot of awareness for the issue, Dr. Ramesh Kancharla informed.
Rainbow has launched Birthright – a safe place to deliver, so that both mother and baby can be taken care under one roof. On an average around 5000 babies are delivered every year in Rainbow group. Being a referral Centre many of the mothers who are at risk of preterm deliveries or mother has medical disease warranting early delivery are referred to Rainbow hospital. Especially IVF pregnancies, multiple pregnancy and very small preterm babies are referred as the survival chances are best in the country.All Rainbow facilities are well equipped to handle complicated or high-risk childbirths. We're not only well-equipped to managing various levels of complications but can also provide ‘timely' help to make sure that mother and baby get the optimum support that's the need of the hour.
