The post World continence week: Focus on moms appeared first on All4Baby.
]]>And interestingly, the biggest increase in risk occurs when you go from having had no children to one child.
In fact, the EPINCONT study conducted in Norway showed that if you had no children, your risk of incontinence would be 10%. Vaginal delivery increased that to 21% and a C-section increased the risk to 16%.
With this in mind, and with figures that indicate up to 40% of women experience bladder weakness as a result of pregnancy, the focus of this year’s World Continence week, being held from 23 to 29 June, is Pelvic Floor Exercise in Pregnancy, Childbirth and Beyond.
The difference between the two forms of childbirth is because of the child’s head going through the birth canal. But, experts say this is not good enough case for more C-sections, estimating they would have to do eight to nine C-sections to protect one woman from bladder weakness.
Vaginal delivery is still preferred because C-sections carry other risks.
There are also other factors that contribute to bladder weakness – being overweight also heightens your risk of incontinence – each BMI unit you add to your body composition increases your risk of urinary incontinence by 8%. (A normal BMI is below 25.) So it’s vital that all women – whether or not they are mothers – ensure they stick to a healthy body weight.
Pelvic floor health is a crucial step in preventing incontinence and should be practised by all women of childbearing age before, during and after pregnancy to keep the risk of urinary incontinence as low as possible.
Clinical trials show that pregnant women who do proper pelvic floor exercises are half as likely to experience incontinence in late pregnancy than women who do not, and are also less likely to have symptoms six months after their baby is born.
The pelvic floor muscles run around the anus where they converge, and then continue around the vagina and urethra. After giving birth, the area may feel tender and it may be hard to clench the muscles.
To start with, lie on your back or side with your knees bent. Clench the sphincter around your anus, then clench forwards and upwards around the vagina and the opening of the urethra. Imagine you’re doing up a ‘zip’ up, starting from the back and clenching all the way forward to your clitoris. Do several gentle clenches, ideally 20, one after the other, and do these exercises daily.
And if you are struggling with urine leakage, a purpose-designed incontinence product is a must. TENA’s products are designed to deal with issues beyond leakage and odour – they absorb liquid fast, limiting the time any moisture is in contact with your skin.
They also have superb retention properties, and the material is designed so that the liquid spreads through it, ensuring that no single area is soaked through.
For more information or advice, please call TENA on 0860 673 377 or visit www.tena.co.za or shop online at www.tenashop.co.za.
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]]>The post Do all pregnant women get stretch marks? appeared first on All4Baby.
]]>Stretch marks tend to be associated more with darker-skinned women than with lighter-skinned women.
In a mixed race study, 77.8% of those with darker skin developed stretch marks in pregnancy, while only 45.2% of lighter-skinned women got them.
Interestingly, it has been found that as you get older, you are less likely to develop stretch marks.
In a study conducted in 2004, it was found that of the women who developed stretch marks in pregnancy, over half had mothers with stretch marks. In the same study it was found that 81% of the women with pregnancy stretch marks had pre-existing stretch marks.
Stretch marks depend on the extent to which the skin expands. As such it is thought that rapid or excessive weight gain can exacerbate their formation.
It is, however, better during pregnancy to focus on eating the correct healthy foods than to worry about how much weight you are putting on.
Maintaining a nutritious diet and keeping skin well-hydrated will ensure that it is better able to stretch during pregnancy.
About the Author: Bio-oil has been trusted by pregnant women since 1987. For more information, visit www.bio-oil.com
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]]>The post Stretch marks during pregnancy appeared first on All4Baby.
]]>Basically, the skin has insufficient time to adjust to the expanding movement of the body. The skin thus tears because the body expands faster than the skin covering it. The scar that forms from this tear is called a stretch mark.
Another cause (which is still subject to debate) involves the priming of the skin by increased levels of hormones. These hormones attract more water into the skin, which relaxes the bond between collagen fibres. This makes it easier for the skin to tear when it is stretched and for stretch marks to form.
Stretch marks generally become visible during the third trimester of pregnancy. But, some women will start to notice them as soon as their bumps start to grow.
Lighter-skinned women tend to develop pinkish stretchmarks while darker-skinned women’s stretch marks appear lighter than the surrounding skin.
Most expecting women develop stretch marks on their bumps. However, it is also common to develop stretch marks on the breasts, thighs, hips, lower back and buttocks.
While they can appear anywhere, they are most likely to appear in places where larger amounts of fat are stored.
The best defence against stretch marks is to ensure that your skin maintains its maximum elasticity throughout pregnancy. To achieve this, you would need to keep skin well-hydrated and supple at all times.
Including foods that are rich in Vitamin E and C, Zinc and Silica, B2 and B3 in your pregnancy diet helps to form collagen. Collagen and elastin fibres in the skin are necessary to keep rapidly growing skin taut.
Exercise improves circulation, which keeps the skin elastic and more able to stretch as it grows.
In addition to ensuring that you keep your skin supple through eating the right foods and getting enough exercise, you should use a topically-applied product that is specifically formulated to maximise the skin’s elasticity. By applying a product from the first trimester twice daily throughout pregnancy, your skin will remain well-hydrated and better able to stretch.
About the Author: Bio-oil has been trusted by pregnant women since 1987. For more information, visit www.bio-oil.com
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]]>The post Study: Closely timed pregnancies may shorten pregnancy duration appeared first on All4Baby.
]]>Published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, the study examined interpregnancy intervals (IPIs) from 454,716 live births of mothers who experienced two or more pregnancies over a period of six years.
Subjects were divided into three categories according to their IPIs. The shortest IPI category consisted of those under 12 months, next came 12 to 18 months, and finally an IPI of over 18 months, considered by the researchers to be optimal.
Results concluded that mothers with the shortest IPIs were likely to give birth before their 39th week, which could lead to problems even though the CDC considers pre-term birth as occuring before 37 weeks.
According to the CDC, women seeking to schedule their births should elect to do so after the 39th week to avoid the problems associated with pre-term birth such as sensory and feeding problems as well as cerebral palsy.
“Short interpregnancy interval is a known risk factor for preterm birth, however, this new research shows that inadequate birth spacing is associated with shorter overall pregnancy duration,” said Emily DeFranco, Assistant Professor of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Ohio and the Center for Prevention of Preterm Birth at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and co-author of the study.
Mothers in the shortest IPI category of under 12 months delivered before 39 weeks at a rate of 53.3 percent. Women in this category were twice as likely to deliver before 37 weeks.
For women in the second and third categories, the rate dipped to 37.5 percent.
“This study has potential clinical impact on reducing the overall rate of preterm birth across the world through counselling women on the importance of adequate birth spacing, especially focusing on women know to be at inherently high risk for preterm birth,” said DeFranco.
(AFP Relaxnews)
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]]>The post Congenital heart defects: What every mom and mom-to-be should know appeared first on All4Baby.
]]>If you were to ask expectant mothers what a CHD is, not many would know the answer and this is because you only really become affected by these defects if you are lucky enough to have them identified early on.
CHD deaths can be avoided through education and knowledge. If moms are armed with the information they need to protect their babies from CHD related issues, death could potentially be avoided. All moms need to do is ask.
“Hudson was born on January 14th, 2013. Two days later, the hospital appointed paediatrician identified what he thought to be a heart murmur and immediately called the resident cardiologist to check it out. It turned out, Hudson had a congenital heart defect (CHD) called Truncus Arteriosus.
He underwent surgery at six weeks of age and everything looked so positive that we’d all but stopped worrying about his heart; so it was completely unexpected when he passed away in the early hours of the morning of May 17th.
In a sad way, we were lucky. Hudson’s CHD was identified early on and we could do everything possible to try and save him. While we weren’t successful and are struggling through the grief of losing our child, we believe that Hudson’s story can help to make a difference in saving the lives of future CHD kids”, says Hudson’s mom, Andrea Slater.
There aren’t many OB Gyns who routinely perform the necessary scans for CHDs during pregnancy. Most scan routinely for Down’s Syndrome and various other genetic disorders, but the dangers that face unborn children go further than just these.
If heart related disorders are identified, expectant mothers can, for instance, opt for caesarean sections rather than natural birth, thereby relieving the stress on the infant’s heart and body.
Pulse Ox is a simple screening test that measures how much oxygen is in a baby’s blood. When performed after the baby is 24 hours old (or before discharge), the test can help identify babies who may have serious heart problems before they go home.
Join pages like The Hudson Initiative on Facebook, where we bring focus to CHDs, what’s being done about them in South Africa, what mothers can do to protect their kids going forward and raise funds to help raise awareness around CHDs. Talk to us, we can help you save a heart.
About the Author: Andrea Slater is mother to a CHD angel and all she wants is to help other tiny people get a fighting chance in this life. Readers are welcome to visit her blog for more on Hudson’s journey.
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]]>The post New project launched to prevent Fetal Alcohol Syndrome appeared first on All4Baby.
]]>The project is funded by the Industry Association for Responsible Alcohol Use (ARA) and the Anglo American Chairman’s Fund. The decision to run the project follows a FASD Prevalence Study that was conducted in the Witzenberg area (2010 – 2012), involving the towns and surrounding farming communities including Ceres, Bokkeveld, Op-die-Berg, Skurweberg, Wolseley, Tulbagh, Breede River Valley and Prince Alfred’s Hamlet. The highest FASD prevalence rate was found in Prince Alfred’s Hamlet (180/1000 of the population).
FARR implemented its three-year FASD awareness and prevention project in Prince Alfred’s Hamlet and also trained medical professionals, social workers and educators before coming to a successful close on 31 March 2014.
Success factors from the programme included the creation of a social worker post at the Ceres District Hospital to support pregnant women and mothers; the level of FASD awareness in the community was raised considerably; and, to date, the FASD prevalence rate among new born babies reduced significantly. In March 2015, FARR will assess the last babies born to the mothers who participated in its evidence based HMHB© Programme after which a final analysis of the data will be published.
In the same FASD Prevalence Study, it was discovered that the Wolseley and Breede River areas had the second highest FASD prevalence rate (120/1000 of the population). FARR has therefore introduced the same project to Wolseley as Prince Alfred’s Hamlet which began on 1 April, 2014.
“We are looking forward to continuing our good work in the Witzenberg area and are grateful to both our funders, the ARA and the Anglo American Chairman’s Fund for their continued support. From experience, we know that our programme models will need to be adapted according to the specific needs of the Wolseley and Breede River communities,” says FARR CEO Leana Olivier.
Critical success factors for this project include: raising awareness pertaining to FASD in the community; decreasing the FASD incidence by enrolling 100 pregnant women per annum in the HMHB© Programme; and developing the capacity in the Wolseley and Breede River areas by offering education and training programmes to community members, health professionals, social workers and educators. This will enable them to address the FASD related problems in their areas and field of work. By doing so, FARR is trying to facilitate the sustainability of the interventions to ensure the work will continue after this current project comes to an end on 31 March 2017.
“The work done by FARR illustrates how targeted interventions play an important role in reducing the misuse and abuse of alcohol, particularly in relation to FASD,” says ARA CEO Dr Osborn Mahanjana. “The Department of Health is on board by appointing one of the FARR staff members from the Prince Alfred’s Hamlet project and community leaders continue the work FARR started by spreading the positive message of not drinking during pregnancy. The ARA believes that engagement with all relevant stakeholders shows consistent results.”
For more information about the Foundation for Alcohol Related Research, please visit www.farrsa.org.za.
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]]>The post Babies shouldn’t die of a broken heart, says Hudson Initiative appeared first on All4Baby.
]]>Around 1 in every 100 babies is born with a heart defect, and in South Africa, many of those go undetected. It’s estimated that at least one in every five babies who dies of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) was an undetected CHD sufferer – but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Cardiac surgeon Professor Robin Kinsley says advances in paediatric cardiology and cardiac surgery have made it possible for survival into adulthood for the majority of babies born with congenitally malformed hearts, but this is not the case on the African continent.
“Here, this is a dream as roughly 280 000 neonates born every year on the continent are left untreated, demonstrating the natural history of the congenitally malformed heart by default,” he says. “This is due in point to lack of finances, lack of locally developed personnel and proper understanding of the problem.”
The statistics get scarier when you hear that globally, twice as many children die from congenital heart defects each year than from all forms of childhood cancer combined, yet funding for pediatric cancer research is five times higher than funding for CHD.
The Hudson Initiative faces a long, arduous road – one that is starting with awareness, will encompass a growth in research funding and the collection of funds to help families who cannot afford the surgeries needed to help their babies, and will end in the creation of Hudson’s Law.
To explain the end goal, detecting CHDs is as simple as administering a test, called Pulse Oximetry, which measures how much oxygen is in a baby’s blood, after the baby is 24 hours old. This dramatically increases their chances of survival, says Andrea Slater, the driving force behind The Hudson Initiative.
“This is the most important part of our focus: We’re going to make sure that screening for heart defects become as normal a scan as the Downs Syndrome check at 20 weeks. We’re going to make sure that Pulse Oximetry tests are performed on all newborn babies before they are sent home. And we’re going to make sure that the terms CHD and congenital heart defect is no longer foreign or misunderstood,” says Slater.
“If mothers are armed with the information they need to protect their babies from CHD-related issues, these deaths could potentially be avoided. CHDs are scary but they’re not the end. CHD babies live. They thrive. Post-surgery, hope is very much alive.”
Ultimately, the Initiative will realise the introduction of Hudson’s Law, which will see Pulse Oximetry testing becoming compulsory. In the meantime, the initiative is raising money to fund CHD awareness campaigns and pay for Pulse Oximetry testing in infants. The long-term goal is to pay for surgeries needed by babies whose families who cannot afford them.
Interested parties can sign a petition and spread the word by visiting www.hudsoninitiative.org. They can also be part of the social media campaign using the #JustAsk hashtag, which prompts expectant mothers to do three things:
“Our journey with Hudson was a very real, very painful, very testing and an extraordinarily fulfilling one. We like to think he chose us because he knew we would do something to address the concerning statistics around the sheer number of babies who are sent home with undiagnosed CHDs. We’re going to change things on behalf of the boy who changed our world.”
About the Author: Andrea Slater is mother to a CHD angel and all she wants is to help other tiny people get a fighting chance in this life. Readers are welcome to visit her blog for more on Hudson’s journey. For more information visit www.hudsoninitiative.org
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]]>The post Noninvasive genetic test for pregnant mothers to check for baby’s health appeared first on All4Baby.
]]>It is conducted on blood collected from the mother as early as 10 weeks of pregnancy. Genetic/(Chromosomal/DNA) abnormality in the foetus (baby) such as Down’s Syndrome and multiple other defects in the baby can now be detected early in the pregnant mother with this accurate and cutting-edge technology.
This state-of-the-art genetic (DNA) test uses genome sequencing and provides a clear and precise result which can be easily interpreted by parents and clinicians. It is the only test in the international market that not only detects abnormalities like Down’s syndrome but also defects called “microdeletions”. These are abnormalities that are very hard to detect in a baby and parents and clinicians usually spend years after birth trying to diagnose them. With this advanced test done from the pregnant mother’s blood, they can be picked up early in pregnancy.
According to Dr. Samit Sekhar who is the Managing Director for Synapse Diagnostics India, “Down’s syndrome is a naturally occurring chromosomal arrangement that has always been a part of the human condition, being universally present across racial, gender or socio-economic lines, and affecting approximately 1 in 800 live births, although there is considerable variation worldwide. Down’s syndrome usually causes varying degrees of intellectual and physical disability in the baby and associated with various other medical issues”.
Currently doctors do a test from the amniotic fluid (fluid around the fetus) called amniocentesis to look for some disorders in women who are at risk such as those women who have a family history of genetic disorders. This test is done late in pregnancy and has a risk of miscarriage as it is invasive (a needle is used to take the fluid). It also sometimes cannot definitively pick up the ‘microdeletions’.
Materni T21 provides a safe alternative for early screening without any invasive procedure or risk of losing the baby. With this technology doctors and parents can now have information very early in the pregnancy and help to mitigate anxiety associated with more aggressive procedures or even other blood tests which may give probability-based results.
The Materni T21 Plus test is developed and validated by Sequenom Center for Molecular Medicine® (Sequenom CMM), a CAP accredited and CLIA-certified molecular diagnostics laboratory based in San Diego, USA.
Synapse is a medical laboratory chain with strategic focus on development, validation and implementation of reference technologies providing unique products and solutions that can better the nature of conventional healthcare services. Headquartered in Malaysia and now at Hyderabad, Synapse Laboratory provides unique medical testing services to hospitals and medical centres and clinics. With a goal to improve maternal and infant health outcomes of pregnancy, Synapse Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd. has brought this technology benefit to India.
The launch was attended by Dr. Rachna Kairon, MD Medical Director, Dr Samit Sekhar, Managing Director Synapse and a team from Sequenom, Mr Steve Quinn General Manager Commercial Operations and Mr Marcos Gonzales Marketing & Medical Liaison. Synapse Diagnostics provides this test to clinics all over India.
More information on Synapse Diagnostics India can be found on http://synapsediagnostics.com/
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]]>The post What are the effects of pregnancy on your skin? appeared first on All4Baby.
]]>Almost 90% of woman experience stretch marks. Initially presenting as red streaks running down the tummy, thighs and hips.
What can you do?
There is very little medical evidence to show the effectiveness of stretch mark creams. Pulse dye laser is generally not safe in pregnancy. Moisturise and take heed in the fact that they will become white and silvery. Carboxy-therapy post-pregnancy can sometimes lessen the appearance of the marks.
1. Moles
Moles may darken in pregnancy. Be sure to check your moles before and after pregnancy. If you notice any significant changes during your pregnancy, contact your dermatologist as soon as possible.
2. Chloasma/Melasma
The pregnancy “mask” characterised by a brownish discolouration on the cheeks and forehead. Remember to wear sunscreen and use good sun protection i.e. sunhats. After pregnancy, if the marks do not fade, pigment lightening gels can be used. Fractionated laser is also useful in the post-partum period.
3. Linea nigra
A dark line that runs from your navel to pubic bone. The line will fade after pregnancy.
Skin tags are loose pieces of skin that may appear in armpits or under the breasts and neck. Very little can be done to prevent these. If they do not disappear after pregnancy, they can be removed.
1. Spider veins
Tiny red blood vessels that branch outwards. Spider veins tend to appear on your face, neck, upper chest and arms.
Try to improve circulation by walking and not crossing your legs while sitting. Often these are hereditary and little can be done to prevent them. Laser treatment after pregnancy can be useful.
2. Varicose veins
These are bulky bluish veins appearing on legs. To prevent varicose veins, increase your vitamin C intake, avoid standing for long periods of time, walk as much as possible, prop your feet on a stool when sitting, wear support stockings and avoid excessive weight gain.
After pregnancy, the pulse dye laser or sclerotherapy can be used.
Also known as “Prurigo of Pregnancy” – a general itchy skin. If it is just general itchyness, increased use of emollients and a mild topical corticosteroid cream can be used. Look out for jaundice (yellow discolouration of skin and eyes). If this occurs please contact your medical practitioner urgently.
Acne can occur in pregnancy and is often very distressing. It may be the first presentation of the disease or following on from a previous occurrence.
It is best to consult your dermatologist. The acne treatments in pregnancy are not always effective, but medication can be taken to lessen the impact of the disease and thus the scarring from acne can be reduced.
1. Atopic eczema
The most common skin disease in pregnancy is a new-onset of atopic eczema. Characterised by itchy, red papules; vesicles (fluid-filled blisters); and thickened skin. If you experience eczema during pregnancy, consult your dermatologist. Steroid creams can be used in moderation with good emollients.
2. Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy
Characterised by very itchy, red lesions that usually start on the tummy and may spread to the buttocks, thighs, arms and legs. Consult your health practitioner. This disease is often controlled by topical or oral steroids, if necessary. The good news is, the disease will resolve after delivery.
3. Impetigo Herpetiformis
A serious skin condition, characterised by pustules (pus-filled blisters) on a red base. Consult your gynaecologist and dermatologist if you develop these lesions.
About the Author: Dr NooriMoti-Joosub is a Dermatologist at Laserderm. For more information on Laserderm, visit www.laserderm.co.za.
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]]>The post Born at 25 weeks, a story of hope appeared first on All4Baby.
]]>“This was our first child and we were very excited from the beginning. We had wanted to have a child for a long time. It felt like a miracle from the start, but I was naïve about what was going to happen later on. In my mind it was all going to work out perfectly, I was going to have a normal birth and breastfeed without any problems.All the signs up to that point showed everything was well,” says Tanya.
“But when the pain didn’t go away and I started bleeding, I knew something was wrong,” she says. Tanya and her husband, Davy, went to the hospital where their gynae did a physical exam and a scan and confirmed everything was in order.
But the pain escalated through that night and her instincts told her all was not well.
“I woke up early the next morning, but I was so weak I could hardly move. The pain was intense and I could feel the baby moving down into the birth canal. I knew I was in labour, I knew the baby was coming,” says Tanya.
“He was crowning in the car and I kept saying to Davy, ‘drive faster, drive faster’. Although we were only 10 minutes away from the hospital, it felt like the longest drive ever. I closed my eyes so I couldn’t see how far we still had to go.”
“We arrived at the hospital and I stood beside a pillar in the entrance and shouted for someone to help me. I had to keep my legs together to keep the baby from coming out.”
It wasn’t until the staff of the maternity unit saw the baby’s head that they realised Tanya was in an advanced stage of labour. The baby was delivered straight away, with one push.
“I looked at the faces around me in the delivery room and I saw expressions of sorrow and regret.” They looked at Davy, who was distraught and very emotional. The looks implied ‘I’m so sorry for your loss’. I picked my head up and I saw a tiny blue baby. We were overcome with sadness and anguish, thinking that he had not survived, and seeing his little body lying still, without any movement.
“Everyone was quiet, and the pause in conversation felt very long. Then, out of the blue, this sound came, like a gasp. Kyle had taken a breath. Our despair turned into hope.”
Tanya had suffered a placental abruption, where the placenta (which is the source of nourishment for the unborn baby) becomes separated from the uterus. The cause of the condition is unknown, but Davy recalls: “It was a very painful and traumatic experience – Tanya had labour pains for more than 24 hours.”
Kyle had arrived 15 weeks early, weighing just 700g. A foetus is deemed clinically viable from 26 weeks’ gestation.
“The gynae wrapped Kyle in a hospital gown, and the nurse took him and ran to neonatal ICU, where they resuscitated him. They worked on him for an hour to stabilise him and he was on life support for a day and a half,” says Tanya.
“The doctors gave him a 10% chance of survival. He’d been starved of oxygen and we were warned of the possible complications that could arise in the days ahead, like heart and lung conditions and brain bleeds. The first 48 hours were crucial.”
‘Don’t get your hopes up, expect the worst,’ they said.
“I cried so much when I saw him, he looked so tiny and underdeveloped. He had a drip in his head, a feeding tube into his stomach and two other cords attached to his tiny little feet.”
Kyle’s birth was a life changing experience and it put things into perspective for us. I held onto my faith – not the stats and science – based on that first breath, which I believe was him saying ‘I’m here for a purpose, I am going to fight to live, I am going to hold onto hope, it’s my time’.
“We were totally unprepared. We hadn’t thought of names, done the shopping, or got his room ready or anything. I was depressed those first few days, I blamed myself, and thought if I had done this or that maybe things would be different. But I also knew I had done everything to keep fit and healthy, I have never drunk alcohol or smoked in my life, and so it felt unfair that my baby was suffering.”
“But I had to put these things behind me. I never looked back, I just thought about what my baby needed from me. He needed to draw strength from us.”
Kyle spent three months in neonatal intensive care and has had two heart surgeries already.
“From the beginning, we knew we needed to prepare for complications. After a few weeks, Kyle became very ill and the cardiologist picked up some problems. The first was the congenital heart disorder PDA (patent ductus arteriosus) where a connecting blood vessel that is open when the baby is in the womb so that blood bypasses the immature, non-functioning lungs, fails to close at birth. In order to get blood oxygenated, Kyle had to have the gap closed surgically when he reached a kilogram in weight. Kyle was one month old and weighed 900g when this procedure was done.”
The second surgery which was done when Kyle was seven months old and weighed three kilograms, was to open a chamber of the heart that was too small.
Kyle has six-monthly check-ups with his cardiologist, and his third operation, to close the hole in his heart due to atrial septal defect (ASD), is planned for when he reaches 15 kilograms.
“The journey was very stressful and a huge emotional roller coaster for us. Good news and happy moments of bonding always preceded bad news from the doctors, nurses and specialists. Fear, nervousness and despair were common emotions that we experienced, together with pride, joy and hope,” say Tanya and Davy.
“The saying: ‘Where there is life, there is hope’ became our mantra. We never stopped believing that everything would turn out perfectly.”
“The day we brought him home for the first time was the best day of our lives. Our house finally became a home,” they say.
Touched by the Moodleys’ story, the Discovery Health Concierge team reacted to their situation and founded the Premmie Concierge Project, which aims to assist and support parents of babies in the neonatal ICU and beyond.
Although he still has heart defects (atrial septal defect and pulmonary valve stenosis) and poor weight gain, Kyle, who is about to celebrate his second birthday, is an energetic and fun-loving little boy. He learns at least two new words a day. He loves playing with his toy cars, trucks and buses but his favourite pastimes are snuggling up to mommy, playing with daddy and chasing after his cat, Bizzy.
For more information on the Premmie Concierge Project, visit www.discovery.co.za. For more Medical Miracle stories, visit DiscoverySA on YouTube.
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