Pavlodar, 26 October. A premature baby boy who has been cared for since birth at Pavlodar Regional Perinatal Centre No. 1 was found to have a broken thigh bone; his relatives say that for several days they could not get an explanation from the doctors, while the Pavlodar regional health department pointed to the fragility of bones in such babies without naming the exact cause of the injury.
The boy was born in August 2026 at an extremely low weight of about 600 grams; by 24 October he weighed 2,020 grams. According to a relative who described the case on social media, between 20 and 23 October the parents noticed that one of his legs had changed in colour and size and repeatedly drew the medical staff's attention to it, but, they say, there was no proper response. On 23 October the doctors told the family that the boy had a fractured femur and explained that he might have injured himself during convulsions. "How is that possible? The medical staff give no explanation," the family's appeal says.
The health department explained that babies born with extremely low birth weight have especially fragile bones. One possible complication is osteopenia of prematurity, a condition in which bone tissue is insufficiently mineralised. According to the department, it occurs in 30–55% of cases and can lead to fractures even from ordinary limb movements. The department did not claim that osteopenia was the cause in this particular case.
According to the department, the boy's condition is stable, and he is being monitored by doctors at the perinatal centre together with a trauma specialist from the regional children's hospital. An X-ray showed that a primary callus has already formed at the fracture site, meaning the bone is healing, and no specific treatment of the injury is needed at present. The centre's administration, the department said, regularly informs the parents about the baby's condition; details of his treatment are not disclosed as they are covered by medical confidentiality.
The department did not say whether an internal inquiry is under way.
What it means: Doctors attribute the fracture to a possible complication of extreme prematurity but stop short of saying so outright; the family says it went several days without answers. The injury is healing and needs no treatment.
What we know now: The boy remains under the care of the perinatal centre's doctors and a trauma specialist from the regional children's hospital; according to the health department, the fracture needs no treatment. The department has not said whether an internal inquiry is under way, and there is no independent assessment of the case yet.
Background: Under the classification used in medicine, a birth weight below 1,000 grams counts as extremely low; the Pavlodar boy was born at almost half that threshold and had gained about 1.4 kg by the end of October.
