A Baby's Fight for Life

Kai Tiaki : the journal of the nurses of New Zealand, Volume XVII, Issue 4, 1 October 1924, Page 181

A Baby's Fight for Life

Mrs. Primipara booked me for her confinement, giving a history of severe sickness at the beginning of her pregnancy, followed by occasional sickness ever since. At the 26th week she had influenza with some pneumonia, followed by six weeks' severe sickness. During this time she had rectal salines three times a day. At the end of 33 weeks of pregnancy, the doctor advised a consultation. When examined the os was soft, large enough to take the finger-tip, the presentation normal ; but the baby thought to be dead. The medicine, however, was changed, and it was decided to wait another 24 hours and then, if the sickness had not lessened, to induce labour. There being no improvement, the membranes were ruptured at 11.30 a.m. the following day. At 12 a hot enema was given and a tight binder applied. Pains followed immediately, and the baby was born at 4.30, weighing 4J lbs. The mother had a perfectly normal lying-in, the rectal salines being discontinued on the third day, as the sickness had then stopped. The baby was wrapped m cotton-wool and placed m a cot with well-protected hot-water bottles. When 24 hours old a spot of blood was seen on the umbilical dressing. I immediately re-ligatured, but the bleeding, which was then very slow, did not stop. At 48 hours old the doctor ligatured. The bleeding, however, continued for the next 24 hours, and m spite of all our efforts — pressure, pads soaked m Friar's balsam, turpentine, etc. The doctor said nothing more could be done. The baby, Avho was too weak to swallow, lay with her mouth open. We kept

the lips moistened with brandy and water, and gave rectal salines containing a few drops of brandy. Towards evening on the third day, she attempted to swallow, and was given three teaspoons of albumin water and brandy every hour when possible (one drm. brandy to half a pint of albumin water). After a respite of 18 hours the bleedingbegan again, but stopped this time when a strip of cotton-wool soaked m Friar's balsam was tightly bound round the stump of cord and umbilicus. For three days baby had three teaspoons 23 times m 24 hours, after which she had improved and could take enough to go one and a half hours and then two hours by day and three by night. At ten days old she had improved m strength sufficiently to be bathed each day. We then weighed her and found her 3| lbs. (When at her worst we think she weighed less than 3 lbs.) Very gradually her feeds were changed to citrated milk and very weak barley water. At five weeks she weighed 4^ lbs, and was having half citrated milk and half water every three hours by day and no night feeds. She slept most of the time, except for an occasional lusty cry. At seven weeks, when she ought to have been just born, she weighed 6 lbs. She is over a year now and has done very well right through. Two things struck me very much m this case. The first was that we could not discover the exact point of the bleeding, and the other, that the baby, when improving, required the amount of food for ordinary babies at her age. — "Maie" m "Nursing Times."