HEALTHYKIDSHOME

  I left the hospital with a heavy heart. I wasn’t sure if the baby would make it. The prognosis was poor. The baby’s mother and grandmother had been thoroughly counselled about the baby’s condition. This situation could have been averted with the right knowledge and early intervention. But here we were, wondering if the baby would survive. The baby had been healthy at birth, so he and his mother were discharged. When they got home, the baby’s paternal grandmother who was helping to care for the baby started using palm kernel oil to dress the baby’s cord. The cord got infected, and the baby later became jaundiced. They didn’t notice that the baby’s eyes were turning yellow until he was yellow from head to sole and was very sick. He was not sucking anymore, there was little movement in the limbs. His breathing was very shallow. There were times he would stop breathing for some seconds and then restart. The cord stump was infected. He was in bad shape. Sadly, he didn’t make it. ...