Delhi hospital helps Nigerian woman deliver

Delhi: Eferaa Sylverline Sekibo was third time lucky. The 35-year-old woman from Nigeria had lost two babies while delivery due to certain complications.

Taking no chances, she then decided to come to India for the delivery of her third child. Her first baby died five minutes after birth because its size was too big. The second one died in her womb only; size was again the problem.

"I was really depressed about the death of my two babies. This time I thought of taking medical help from India. So we went there," said Eferaa.

She was six months pregnant when she arrived in India and was moved to Fortis La Femme. "She came to us with all her previous medical reports and results of general tests.

We just did a few other examinations in which we found that she was suffering from Gestational Diabetes," said Dr Tripat Choudhary, Senior Consultant, Gynaecology, Fortis La Femme.

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After knowing about her condition, Eferaa was given treatment accordingly to keep the size of the baby in check.

"In initial investigations, her blood sugar level was reported to be high. So she was admitted for two days to counter this complication. Extreme care was taken to control her sugar levels by doctors and dieticians," added Dr Tripat.

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Soon, in the 36th week of her pregnancy, in a mutual decision, doctors decided to deliver the baby. "We conducted the surgery in the 36th week of her pregnancy. The newborn however had breathing difficulties and his lungs were reported to be weak. But soon he was normal and was responding to the medicines too," said Dr Tripat.

The child was finally discharged on the 25th of December 2010 and the mother was very happy with this "perfect Christmas Gift" from Fortis La Femme.

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"Our baby is a gift of god to us. I am ecstatic seeing my child in perfect health," said an emotional Eferaa Sylverline Sekibo.

Gestational diabetes (or gestational diabetes mellitus, GDM) is a condition in which women without previously diagnosed diabetes exhibit high blood glucose levels during pregnancy.

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Gestational diabetes generally has few symptoms and it is most commonly diagnosed by screening during pregnancy. Diagnostic tests detect inappropriately high levels of glucose in blood samples.

Gestational diabetes affects 3-10 per cent of pregnancies, depending on the population studied. The cause is believed to be due to deficiency in Vitamin D.

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Babies born to mothers with gestational diabetes are typically at increased risk of problems such as being large for gestational age (which may lead to delivery complications), low blood sugar, and jaundice.