New Delhi, Jul 14 (IANS): Miracle during the times of the pandemic are indeed rare, but it happened with a 26 week old baby, who survived two invasive surgeries.

These surgeries were conducted by doctors at the Fortis Hospital in Shalimar Bagh in the national capital. It was part of four life-saving high-risk surgeries on an expecting mother and her premature twins.

"At the time of delivery, the twins were stabilised via ventilator support and medication for lung maturation and customised artificial nutrition was provided," said Doctor Vivek Jain, Director and Head of Department, Neonatology of Fortis Hospital.

However, Jain said, one of the twins developed complications by the third day, an intestinal perforation, much like the initial condition of the mother. An urgent surgery was required, however, since the baby weighed only 1,000 grams and was premature, the chances of survival were minimal, Jain said.

"The first surgery was conducted, and a pouch was made on the side of the stomach and the intestine was left to heal. After 6 to 8 weeks another surgery was performed, the hole in the intestine was closed and it was reconnected to it."

The time between both the surgeries passed slowly and excruciatingly, the baby was fighting to live and had developed severe distress, sepsis, respiratory failure, and hypotension. However, against all odds, the baby survived and 12 weeks after his birth, he was handed over to the parents. "It was nothing short of divine intervention that this baby, who had been born prematurely and had undergone two intensive operations, had come out thriving, the doctor said.

Soni, the mother of the twins, underwent dual surgery, wherein an intestinal blockage was successfully removed, and a C-section was performed, with her giving birth to twins who were 14 weeks premature, the Hospital said in a statement.

Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the hospital being a dedicated COVID facility, Fortis doctors managed to save three precious lives. Father of the twins said he thought he was going to lose his wife and the unborn children.

"I was frantic and had lost all hope. The only respite I had was to keep praying. Thankfully, the doctors at Fortis Shalimar Bagh managed to save the lives of my children and my wife.

"Every day, my wife and I watched our child fight for his life. It was a painful time, but we have emerged from it and our baby is stronger than ever. Doctor Vivek Jain and his team fought for our child and because of their dedication, sincerity, around the clock monitoring, we are taking both our babies' home."