Pune: 25-Day-Old Infant Suffers Critical Infection After Being Fed Cow’s Milk, Saved by Pune’s Kamla Nehru Hospital

Pune, 31st July 2025: In a remarkable case that highlights the dangers of feeding newborns anything other than breast milk, doctors at Pune’s Kamla Nehru Hospital saved the life of a 25-day-old infant who developed a life-threatening infection after being fed cow’s milk.

The baby, born to a woman residing in the Camp area of Pune, was discharged from the hospital in stable condition shortly after birth. However, within a month, the child developed severe symptoms including diarrhea, dehydration, low blood pressure, and respiratory distress. The mother, unable to breastfeed, had resorted to feeding the baby cow’s milk, a practice strongly discouraged by pediatricians for infants under six months of age.

On June 17, the infant was admitted to Kamla Nehru Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in critical condition. Doctors immediately assessed the situation and found that the child had necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) — a serious intestinal condition caused by bacterial infection due to contaminated milk. The baby’s abdomen was swollen, indicating potential intestinal rupture that could have required emergency surgery.

According to Dr. Smita Sangade, Pediatric Specialist at Kamla Nehru Hospital, “The child’s condition was extremely delicate. He showed poor response to initial medications, and we had to administer higher-grade antibiotics. During treatment, the infant was transfused with red and white blood cells five times, and due to protein deficiency and full-body swelling, intravenous amino acid therapy (Aminovein) was administered.”

The baby was placed on ventilator support for nearly a month, during which his condition slowly stabilized. Once his gut infection subsided, milk feeding was gradually resumed. After 21 days in the NICU, and reaching a stable weight and condition at 46 days old, the child was successfully discharged.

Dr. Prashant Bothe, Medical Superintendent of Kamla Nehru Hospital, commented, “Being located in the heart of the city, our hospital sees a large volume of patients daily — 800 to 1,000 in the OPD and around 20–25 deliveries per day. Our NICU is fully equipped to handle such emergencies, and in this case, our team’s efforts resulted in saving the baby’s life.”

Doctors reiterated that breast milk is the only recommended nutrition for infants under six months and strongly advised parents against using animal milk or formula without medical consultation.