PHOTO: This newly born baby’s fate hanging in the balance
By Garmah Never Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
An SOS call for help is coming from the parents of a four-day-old baby who is suffering from a major birth defect, Gastroschisis in Liberia’s remote southeastern Sinoe County.
Reports from the area say after mother gave to a male child at the F.J Grante referral hospital in the County’s capital, Greenville, recently, Health practitioners have recommended surgical procedures outside Liberia as this is the only way to guarantee the infant’s survival.
Gastroschisis (pronounced gas-troh-skee-sis) is a birth defect where there is a hole in the abdominal wall beside the belly button. The baby’s intestines, and sometimes other organs, are found outside of the baby’s body, exiting through the hole.
The mother of the child managed to deliver safely delivery at the OB department of the government-run F.J. Grant hospital in Greenville on Sunday, July 17, 2022.
Parents of the infant can be contacted via mobile phone #s: (+231) 776492770/ (+231) 775764306
Parents of the four-day-old baby at the F. J. Grant Memoral Hospital in Greenville are calling on the Liberian government and humanitarian organizations for financial aid, in order to first take the baby to Monrovia after seeking medical advice; then subsequently taken abroad.
The emergency SOS call follows the conduct of multiple medical examinations after the birth of the child, according to medical report.
In an interview with Eric Doe, father of the baby on Thursday afternoon, July 21,2022, he expressed surprise to experience such a situation involving his child after being carried in his mother’s womb for nine months.
He explained that after realizing the condition of his baby, he was told by the County Health Officer, Dr. Alexander Pewee Tokpah that the child be referred to Monrovia for further medical attention, adding that there are experts who can handle such emergency in Liberia or recommend a way forward as to whether the child needs to be taken outside Liberia.
“The condition of the infant is not the first of its kind, but it needs to be handled in a timely manner,” County Health Tokpah added.
As the clock ticks, the newly born baby boy remains at the hospital in Greenville, while the parents are calling for support to transport the child to Monrovia, in the absence fuel oil for the hospital’s ambulance, a major challenge the Health Officer said his hospital is facing.
For her part, Favorline Jarboe, mother of the infant and a resident of Farmersville said she’s worried and concerned about her child’s survival, after carrying nine months of pregnancy.
Meanwhile, the parents of the child are urgently requesting assistance and they can be contacted via mobile phone #s: (+231) 776492770/ (+231) 775764306