We are overwhelmed by the success story of the mother of triplets, who were admitted to Dr.Mehta’s Hospitals NICU with very low birth weight. It was quite challenging for the mother to feed all the three babies at the same time.One of the triplets was born with extreme prematurity that was less than 28 weeks and rest two triplets at 28 weeks. Establishment of feeds in these preterm babies was another big task, as these babies naturally may requires parenteral nutrition and there are more risk of sepsis, feed intolerance and requirement of some respiratory support. Mother’s milk becomes an important asset for these babies. Babies stayed with us for approximately 6 weeks. Breast milk was started within 24 hours for two babies, but for one baby it took 3 days to start feed. Because of the prematurity and associated morbidities, it took some time to completely establish the full feeds. Since mothers milk is like a vaccine to a baby, this mother after all ups and downs did not lose hope, and patiently fed the three babies with her own milk. Gradually other family members were also involved and were taught by our team, regarding paladai feeding and taking care of the three babies.The stormy course within the hospital and the physical exhaustion also led to some kind of discouragement to the feeding mother, but the constant support and skilled counseling by our doctors, nurses and lactation counselor along with the will power of mother and her family helped in expressing milk and feeding the babies optimally. No formula feeds were involved at any time for feeding.All the three babies are being regularly followed up at our hospital, and it’s a glad thing to share that the babies have fair weight gain, are free of morbidities and currently doing well.
