A case report of an unusual and rare social cause of extreme prematurity in a newborn

Abstract

The most frequent factors contributing to newborn mortality include prematurity and low birth weight. Prematurity has been linked to a number of well-known reasons, including maternal health, intrauterine infections, uteroplacental insufficiency, and psychosocial causes. The period of pregnancy is important for parental decision-making. Here, we report an intriguing, unique example of poor judgment and irrational reasoning that resulted in the birth of twins who were severely preterm and underweight. The couple when conceived spontaneously gave birth to a healthy baby, and then, they donated the baby to the elder brother under social and cultural pressure. The couple thought that they would not be able to take care of a baby and finally decided not to have any kids. Once more, they changed their minds and went for the pregnancy. However, they later decided to terminate the baby and finally chose a tubectomy. After a while, they decided they wanted to start a family again and underwent tubal recanalization. She chose in vitro fertilization (IVF) since she was unable to conceive naturally. Twins of gestational age 28–30 weeks were born through an emergency cesarean section after spending a lot of money. Both the babies required surfactant, ventilation, and intensive care for a long period due to their severe prematurity. Despite our best efforts and good nursing care, we still lost both the babies. The death of any baby in a hospital may be a mental trauma for the parents as well as health professionals. This case report is all about how wrong decision-making in the antenatal period regarding child adoption, donation of children, abortion, family planning, recanalization, and IVF treatment leads to birth of extremely low birth weight and severely premature babies.