Q: My wife was in her 36th week of pregnancy, she had too much of amniotic fluid (poly hydramnios). During her regular check up; it was found that her blood pressure was 140/100. The doctor suggested immediate operation. The operation lasted for 1.5 hours and doctors said that there was a problem in applying anaesthesia as my wife has a short neck. When the baby was taken out, his breathing rate was more than 60 per minute; it was fast with sounds. Paediatrician kept him on oxygen but unfortunately the breathing rate increased after 24 hours. It rose to 90-95 per minute. Doctors still suggested that the baby would be all right. The breathing rate didn't reduce on the 3rd day too, so they kept him on a ventilator. But even before he was kept on the ventilator, he started suffering heavy convulsions continuing for more than 24 hours. The doctor took a scan of his brain and found that the brain is swollen and there was leakage of blood. Doctors said that the chances of recovery were 10%. Fortunately the baby started recovering. After a week when doctors tried taking the baby out of the ventilator the baby suffered so much that he had to be kept in the CPAP position. An ENT doctor has done the laryngoscopy and found that baby's trachea is collapsed so badly that recovery is less likely. It is almost 30 days and the baby is still in CPAP mode. What are the chances of the baby coming out of CPAP? Can he breath normally?

A:Your baby has been through a very difficult time. There is often a need to keep a baby on CPAP after a period of prolonged ventilation for various reasons one amongst them is tracheomalacia. Over a period of time as the baby gets bigger the airways become stronger and the baby is able to come off CPAP.