January 22, 2017; Ajman:Thumbay Hospital, the GCC's largest network of private academic hospitals, has witnessed the arrival of 2017's first triplets; born to a Pakistani couple on January 14, 2017.The two little boys and their little sister are doing fine, said Dr. ZareenFasih, Consultant Neonatologist at the hospital.

The 22-year-old-motherof the triplets, who has a family history of twin births, was admitted to the hospital for an emergency cesarean, performed by Dr. Shanthi Therese Fernandes, Specialist A – Obstetrics and Gynecology. The parents, who already had two kids, where delighted to receive the news of triplets during the mother’s third month checkup at Thumbay Hospital. The fact that it was a case of natural conceptionhad added to their joy.

Delivered pre-term at 32 weeksby Emergency LSCS, thefirst and the second to arrive were the boys, weighing 1.33 kgs and 1.22 kgs respectively, followed by the girl weighing 1.44 kgs. Being pre-term and low birth weight, the triplets have spent a week at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)before being discharged from the hospital.

Thumbay Hospital has a well-equipped NICU, and the hospital is staffed with expert gynecologists and neonatologist capable of handling all cases of pre-term pregnancies which are 28-weeks and above, according to Dr. Shanthi Therese Fernandes. This is not the first time that triplets have been born at the hospital.

Thumbay Hospital follows a policy of ‘minimal handling of the newborn’ with regard to prematurely delivered babies, meaning minimal intervention in case the baby is born healthy. Moreover, the hospital strongly advocates ‘kangaroo care’ wherein parents are encouraged to keep the prematurebabies close to their chests during the winter, to avert the risk of hypothermia. ‘Absolute breastfeeding’ is the policy of the hospital, and accordingly, the hospital encourages mothers to only breastfeed the babiesupto 6 months, and not to give any other milk. Even when premature babies aren’t sucking, they are fed with expressed breast milk, till the baby matures to breastfeed. To ensure that the premature babies are not born with respiratory problems, mothers are administered the required injections prior to delivery.

According to Dr. ZarinFasih, the incidence of prematurity is very high in the UAE, and premature babies end up staying in the NICU for a longer period of time because of complicationsof prematurity. “The best thing is to prevent premature deliveries, but if a baby is delivered prematurely, then the delivery and neonatalcare of the baby must take place at a tertiary care hospital, for better outcome and future health of the baby,” she explained.

Thumbay Hospital, Ajman has emerged as a leading multispecialty hospital in the region, with services across all major medical specialties and offering advanced facilities such as Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, Neonatal ICU (level 3), ICU, Dialysis, Advanced Radiology & Lab Services, Interventional Radiology, Interventional Neurology, Minimal Invasive Surgeries, Bariatric (weight-loss) Surgery, State-of-the-Art Modular Operating Theatres, Pediatric Surgery, Women Wellness, Neonatal Screening, Super Specialty Dental Center etc. The hospital also offers discounted antenatal packages, painless delivery services, executive labor and delivery suite (private), state-of-the-art equipment, 24-hours emergency and in-patient services