Project Report
| Dec 2, 2019
Your Donation Helped a Child Survive
By Ankita Bhattacherjee | Asst. Manager - Communications & Partnership
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When little Tanzilur was born his parents were very ecstatic. His father came running into the delivery room to hold his first born; but he stopped in his tracks the moment he laid eyes upon his baby. His little darling, for whom the whole family had been waiting eagerly, did not look like a regular baby. His lips were split into two! The baby also looked very small and fragile. The nurse informed him that the doctor had requested to speak with him in private. Tanzilur’s father immediately knew something was wrong.
During his meeting with the doctor Tanzilur’s father found out that along with a cleft lip Tanzilur also had a cleft palate and a cardiac issue. His happiness soon turned into worry and depression for his little one. He didn’t think his child would survive. The doctor advised Tanzilur’s father to take him to Guwahati Medical College for a thorough diagnosis. While there, Tanzilur’s father met with the paediatrician who advised him to bring Tanzilur to our Comprehensive Cleft Care Centre in Guwahati.
When our medical team screened little Tanzilur, he was found underweight; at 3-months he weighted only 3kgs. They also discovered that Tanzilur has breathing and feeding problems due to his cleft palate. Further conversation with his parents revealed that food is difficult to come by for Tanzilur’s family as his father is a carpenter in a remote village of Assam; he does not make a lot of money and therefore it is not only difficult for him to feed his family but also being illiterate, they were not aware about that the pregnant mother requires a nutrient-rich diet.
Tanzilur was immediately enrolled into our Nutrition programme. The little one can only manage to drink about 30-40 ml milk or formula at a time, which is not enough for a baby of 3 months. His mother was given practical demonstrations on how to hold and feed her baby. Our nutrition team had also provided the mother with dietary supplements and taught the mother how to mix the formula. Since his mother is lactating, they also designed a diet chart for the mother. The baby was then referred to Guwahati Medical College once again for further treatment. He is due in two months for a follow-up on his nutrition schedule and weight before he can be recommended for surgery.
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Sep 3, 2019
Thank You for your support! Spread the word!
By Anupam Sarkar | Sr. Manager - Partnerships
Dear Smile Givers,
Our nutrition program have enrolled 5000 kids and helped 1500+ kids to not only survive malnutrition during infancy but also helped them to get fit enough to receive their surgeries.
Key Highlights of the Program:
Special mixture created by our team of nutritionist and doctors called as Assam Mix which is affordable and have all necessary nutrition, salts, and minerals.
All kids enrolled are tracked through MIS and regularly updated on weight and treatment provided to the team and regurl updated of appointments are provided to the patient family
All medicine and Assam Mix are provided free of cost to underprivileged kids. Regular checkups by pediatrician and nutrition counselor are also included.
Optimistic that another child with a cleft could be saved from the clutches of Malnutrition that kills one out of ten babies. Thank you for your generous support, we look forward to your continued support in this year too.
Thank You
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Jun 6, 2019
How a day in the Nutrition Program looks like?
By Anupam Sarkar | Senior Manager Partnership & Communications
![Asraful, Grandmother and mother- Camera-conscious]()
Asraful, Grandmother and mother- Camera-conscious
Dear Smile Givers
Nutrition program has successfully helped over 1300 Kids to not only survive malnutrition during infancy but also helped them to get fit enough to receive their surgeries.
Thank you so much for it.
In this report, I am sharing how this transformation happens and how a day looks like for our Nutrition Intensivist- Moromi.
Asraful Ali, an 8-day old infant is brought to GC4 from Chenga block of Barpeta by his mother and grandmother. He is wailing, and the reason we soon discover, is hunger. Due to his cleft, the mother is not being able to feed the baby well. Moromi, the Nutrition Counsellor, mixes some formula in a bowl and feeds the baby with a spoon- immediately peace prevails.
Too young to be given surgery, Asraful is inducted into the Too Young category of the Cleft Nutrition programme. The objective of this is to ensure that the caregivers can provide counseling on feeding and hygiene until the time Asraful is 6 months old and can receive surgery safely.
Talking with the mother, we came to know about the hardship the child's family has to bear in their past days. When Asraful's mother was pregnant, she had to deliver her baby at home since the flood waters prevented the pregnant mother to be taken to the hospital. After the birth, the family was aghast to see that Asraful is born with cleft lip and cleft palate. On the third day of his birth, Asraful was taken to the state medical college at Barpeta, where he was referred to Guwahati Comprehensive Cleft Care Centre GC4).
Moromi counseled the mother on proper feeding positions- since children with cleft cannot be held in the usual positions for breastfeeding.
After a bit of inquiry, it was also revealed that the clothes he was wearing have not been washed after being purchased from the market leading to rashes all over his body. They were therefore counseled on how to maintain personal hygiene. We further discovered that the mother is anemic and underweight. Another brief followed where we counseled the mother-in-law about diet for lactating mothers.
Asraful will come back to GC4 after 2 months for a check-up. His weight will be checked again and more counseling will follow as per the development of the child. This will be done till the child is 6 months old and attains a minimum body weight of 6 kg, both necessary parameters for Asraful to receive corrective surgery for his cleft lip.
After logging in all the details of Asraful on the patient management system, Moromi closes the discussion.
Optimistic that another child with cleft, could be saved from the clutches of Malnutrition that kills one out of ten babies like Asraful.
Thank you for your generous support, we look forward to your continued support in this year too.
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