Baby Girl

One of the ministries we often do with teams is go to the Pediatric ward of the General Hospital in Port au Prince and pray with the parents/children there.  Though it is not the best medical care in Haiti, the hospital itself (and the care of the doctors) is free so it is usually full of people who are desperate for medical care yet financially in a very tough situation.  Sure, there are better medical facilities in Port au Prince- especially ones with more resources available to patients, but they are often costly which means unavailable to many people in need of quality care. Patients at the General Hospital must provide EVERYTHING needed for care- IV's, needles, bandages, antiseptic, medicine, testing (often outside the hospital), food, sheets for the bed, etc....  so parents often welcome the distraction we bring when we play with the children or hold them.  We have built relationships with some children/families there (some up to 2 years in the hospital) and the staff too.  

Back on Friday, January 3rd we went with a team to the ward. We stayed about 2 hours and as we were leaving a mother was admitting a baby.  She was one of the tiniest babies I had ever seen but had a HUGE belly.  She was obviously dehydrated with wrinkled skin that you could almost see through.  Though the care at General is the best they can do with limited funding and resources we knew instantly that the chances for survival of this baby would be greatly increased if we were to get her to a place that could offer her better medical care.  So, we prayed with the mother and left her there - with no promises to return or assist in any way yet immediately I began to call a few people I know (or know of) to see where we could get the baby seen.  After a few places connecting me with others we were able to call the mother and offer to help by moving the baby to a better hospital across town where we had a doctor waiting to admit her and do an evaluation.  We also have a nutrition clinic (Real Hope for Haiti) willing to take her later when her medical issues are under control.

So..... off we went!  An entire team in the bus with the mother (once we tracked her down- another story) off to Bernard Mevs hospital which is the University of Miami field hospital I was able to take someone to in July 2010.  It is a small (50 beds) hospital and offers better care than most in the area- often with visiting physicians or teams from the USA.

To keep this short, let's just say that the baby was evaluated and admitted.  They said she had severe anemia, dehydration and malnutrition.  The plan is to get her stable medically (hydrated, blood transfusion, etc),find why the belly is so distended, and then deal with whatever is needed to fix the problem causing the medical issues.  We have kept in touch with the medical staff at the hospital as well as the mom and so far they were able to get the swelling in the belly to go down off and on, able to get her better hydrated, and now (today) Redgi and I will take her to get an ultrasound.  Tuesday morning he took them for bloodwork.  The hospital doesn't have the lab or an ultrasound machine so this means taking the mom/baby and driving them to a clinic, waiting in a LONG line (most likely) and then getting the testing done.

We have committed to helping with the medical bills for this little one- knowing that God doesn't make mistakes and that we were there at the hospital for a reason (which we believe was to help her find better medical care and to give her a better chance for survival).  So far the total has been about $75 US but the hospital is keeping a "tab" that we will receive once treatment is completed.  We are setting up a fund for donations toward these expenses and will keep you all posted as she progresses or as we get a plan together for care.  If you feel led to give toward the expenses for this mom/baby you can go online and donate from our website (there's a donate tab on the home page- www.heartsunitedwithhaiti.org) or you can send checks to Hearts United with Haiti  PO Box 55 Morgantown, PA 19543.  All donations are tax deductible since we are a registered 501c3 organization with the IRS.

Here are some photos of little "Baby Girl" (she does not yet have a name from her parents)  She is one month old- born Dec. 3, 2014.  Mom is 43 years old and it is her third child. They live in Fontamara which is not far from our mission base. Baby Girl weighed about 4 pounds when admitted and is a little fighter.  Prayers for this sweet little one are much appreciated.  These photos are some of the more mild ones but you can clearly see how sick she is.

When admitted- this shows her belly a bit and how wrinkled/dehydrated she was.

Close up upon admission....

Five days later- still very serious but a little "plumper" from being re-hydrated.  The belly has gone down a lot but from what the mom/doctor said it goes up and down intermittently.  

Close up of her sweet face. She still has a LONG way to go!  (By the way- not sure about the spots on her face.  Her mom thinks they are mosquito bites but I think they are little bruises from holding her head when they were trying to get an IV into her at the general hospital)