By Kemi Akintokun

Babies Matter Medical Centre (BMMC), Lagos, has successfully discharged twin babies born at 24 weeks of gestation, weighing 550 grammes and 740 grammes, respectively.

Dr Zainab Mudasiru, Co-founder and Clinical Lead of the hospital, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.

Mudasiru described the babies’ survival as a significant achievement, given the medical challenges associated with caring for extremely premature infants.

She said babies born at 24 weeks were considered to be at the threshold of viability, with survival dependent on access to intensive medical intervention and the capacity of the hospital.

“Being born at 24 weeks gestation, even in developed Western countries, is considered to be at the threshold of viability and survival.

“This means that these babies can potentially survive outside the womb only with intensive medical intervention and depending on hospital capabilities.

“Even in the UK, for instance, the maximum survival rate is 70 per cent of all babies born at 24 weeks gestation,” she said.

She explained that extremely premature babies faced several complications, including severely underdeveloped lungs, fragile brains vulnerable to bleeding, immature gastrointestinal systems and high susceptibility to infections.

“We are not in the UK; we are in Lagos, Nigeria.

“This is a limited-resource environment where there are still many challenges in trying to deliver expert neonatal care,” she said.

Mudasiru, a UK-trained neonatal specialist, said the twins spent 87 and 85 days, respectively, at the hospital before they were considered fit for discharge.

She commended the hospital’s medical team for their dedication, saying their collective efforts had given the parents renewed hope.

“We took delivery of these 24-week twins and have successfully managed them to the point of going home.

“I am so proud of our facility and our staff who together worked so hard as a team, and have given their parents such joy.

“We thank God for this success and, as I speak, we actually have another set of 24-week twins currently in our unit, both doing well,” she said.

She urged pregnant women and hospitals anticipating premature deliveries to contact the facility so that its neonatal team could prepare to provide care immediately after birth.

The mother of the twins, Mrs Temitayo Fagbemi, expressed gratitude to the hospital for giving her babies a chance of survival, saying she initially feared they would not make it.

“In fact, I lost all hope when my babies were born at 24 weeks.

“I was devastated and thought it was all over, but I just want to thank God for using Babies Matter Medical Centre to give them a chance of survival,” she said.

Fagbemi said seeing the babies’ extremely low birth weights had left her in tears because she feared they would not survive.

“It was not easy at all. The fear of losing your twin babies, the fear of seeing them so tiny, one was weighing 550 grammes while the other was weighing 740 grammes.

“In fact, when I saw them, I was in tears because I lost all hope that they were going to survive at that weight,” she said.

She, however, said her confidence gradually improved as she witnessed the medical attention provided by the doctors and nurses.

“As days and months went by, I was having hope when I saw the way the doctors were giving all the attention to them, the medical treatments, even the nurses. In fact, I was so happy.

“I had hope. And today, here we are today, my twin babies are healthy, alive, thanks to Babies Matter Medical Centre,” she said.

Fagbemi also commended the hospital for preparing her to care for the babies after discharge.

She said the nurses taught her how to prepare their feeds, bathe them and manage their daily care through practical training and supervision until she became confident enough to care for them independently.

The mother encouraged other parents of premature babies receiving neonatal intensive care to remain hopeful and maintain open communication with their doctors and nurses.

She also urged Nigerians whose babies were born extremely prematurely to seek appropriate specialist care.

Fagbemi expressed gratitude to the hospital for supporting her family through the difficult experience. (NAN)

Edited by Vivian Ihechu