Little one of Bhagyamma

“If I have a monument in this world, it is my son.” —Maya Angelou
For Bhagyamma her son is her ‘universe’ who came into her womb having yearned to become a mother for 18 years waiting and waiting…
Bhagyamma and her husband Lakshminarayanappa have been trying to have a baby for the past 18 years. After a long battle, Bhagyamma conceived. But the baby boy came too soon to this world, as soon as 33 weeks old.  She delivered him on August 9th at a private hospital at Hindupur, a town located in the Karnataka-Andhra Pradesh border. As a preemie, he had respiratory distress, suspected sepsis, and jaundice.
The parents’ hearts wrenched to see their baby’s bluish skin and lips, flaring of the nostrils, grunting, and struggling to breathe. Bhagyamma’s husband being a sole earner of the family wondered how he could manage money for the treatment, considering he was a daily wage worker struggling to put food on the table. He worked on farms during the season and did a bit of construction work during off-season.
Due to the baby’s worsening respiratory distress in the NICU at Hindupur hospital, they recommended on transferring the baby to Motherhood Hospitals. Considering the family was below poverty line, the team at Motherhood Hospitals requested the Neonates Foundation of India for financial support.
The baby was transported using transport incubator called as NICU on Wheels. The baby was placed in a thermo neutral environment and put through CPAP support. CPAP is a machine support that keeps the airways open while sleeping so that the baby can receive adequate oxygen. On Day 6, he was weaned off this support and was self-ventilating. His heart was stable throughout the stay. In view of suspected sepsis, he was placed on antibiotics for three days.
He started accepting formula feeds, continued to breathe on his own, and had a healthy weight of 2kg. Overall the baby stayed in the NICU for seven days and was discharged. He was referred to New Faraih nursing home in Hindupur for continuing feeds and further neonatal care.
Financial support was extremely critical to the parents who had to struggle for each meal. Bhagyamma and her husband are forever grateful to Motherhood Hospitals and you for your contribution to the Neonates Foundation of India which helped in saving their precious baby. Currently, this little one is doing his tummy time and charming the people around with his smile.
Name – Bhagyamma (Mother) Lakshminarayanappa (Father)
Location – G. Kottur, a village near Gauribidanur (Chikkaballapur)

Share your story

We share these stories and victories with our dedicated supporters around the world.