Sometimes I stand beside his incubator and just watch him. He is beautiful, tiny, perfectly and intricately formed. I watch his chest rise and fall as he sleeps. He is 'my' miracle. Woodson arrived at GLA, fighting for his life. He was our first CPAP patient. Now he weighs 5lb 5oz. He is breathing on his own, and although he is still in his incubator, he is only there because the basinets in the NICU are all taken. The incubator is turned off. Yes, perfectly formed, and mature enough to make it in this world without our help. Woodson will soon go home.
The last hurdle, is making sure that his Mother is producing enough milk, and that Woodson is feeding well enough at the breast to grow and gain weight. This last hurdle has been a challenge. Woodson's Mother believed that since her milk was drying up, she needed to stop nursing him. She believes that 'dry breasts' produce salty milk. She holds that belief because it is what the voodoo Doctors teach.
At our insistance, she has continued to nurse Woodson and no longer argues the point about the superior nutrition, and practicality of breast feeding. Woodson comes from a very poor family, who would never be able to afford infant formula. His only real chance of survival from this point onwards is his mother's milk.
We all hope that Woodson's Mum will take our teaching into her heart. It would be more than I could bear, to see a hard won life lost to the cruel world, its ignorance and superstition.
No comments:
Post a Comment