A day of joy turned into a medical emergency when a mother gave birth to a 2.4kg child through a Caesarean section at a hospital in Mehsana, Gujarat on June 20.

The baby, who seemed healthy after it was born, didn't cry, turned blue, and had to be immediately put on ventilation support.

Doctors then decided to transfer the newborn to a tertiary neonatal hospital in Ahmedabad as his heart began to get weaker and his blood pressure also dropped.

Reportedly the medical team initially considered it to be a case of asphyxiation at birth, but the child showed unusual symptoms.

And further investigation led to discovery of extremely high levels of nicotine in the baby's blood as a result of high intake of tobacco by the mother.

The mother who had a history of asthma consumed tobacco frequently, as many as 10-15 times a day indirectly feeding her baby in the womb to high nicotine levels through her bloodstream.

According to reports, the child was born with 60 ng/ml nicotine levels i.e., 3000%, a higher percentage than the permissible levels for adults.

Speaking to the media, Dr Ashish Mehta, a senior neonatologist said, "When the child came to us, he looked like a healthy child who had gone into a coma. He was initially diagnosed with birth asphyxia, but such children usually have significant neurological damage, resulting in paralysis, lack of reflexes, and muscle weakness. However, this child exhibited good muscle tone and strength with no apparent neurological deficits. He simply did not fit the profile of a child with asphyxia."

However, after receiving treatment for five days, the newborn baby began showing signs of recovery and was discharged from the hospital later.