A two-and-a-half days old baby underwent laparoscopic surgery for congenital diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) at The Cradle hospital on recently.

Also, the baby was discharged after ten days, a rarity since most are kept for around four weeks. However, since it was a laparoscopic surgery, the recovery was faster, said Paediatric Surgeon Dr S Ramesh.

The baby was diagnosed with CDH during the pre-natal test done in London, where the doctors said that the baby's survival may be only 50 per cent. So Jasna Ramakrishna, the baby's mother, flew to Bangalore and consulted at The Cradle.

Dr Kishore Kumar, neonatologist, said CDH was a birth defect which causes an abnormal opening in the diaphragm, the muscle that helps a person breathe. The opening allows part of the organs from the belly (stomach, spleen, liver, and intestines) to go up into the chest cavity near the lungs. The prevalence of CDH in new born babies is one in every 2,000-4,000 live births in India. Family history increases the chances of a baby developing CDH.