Posted by christina
Thu, 21 Jul 2011 04:01:00 GMT
We are always honored when we get enthusiastic emails of support. One volunteer’s story touched many of us at Embrace. He wanted to help other babies that faced similar circumstances as himself, and threw an amazing fundraiser for Embrace in Mission Viejo, CA. We are proud that he will be attending the University of California, Berkeley (my alma mater!) this fall. Congrats Paras!!
Paras shares his story below.
It began with an idea. A simple desire to effect a change, to forge an impact, to embrace the problem and create a solution. As I sat in front of the television, the first fragments came to me—and over the course of six months—those fragments materialized into an event larger than anything I could have dreamed up. The program was an ABC 20/20 special “Be the Change Save a Life” and it spoke of the plethora of problems faced by millions of people on every continent and every nation, then presented innovative solutions to these problems. The story that truly hit home for me was a tale of hope via Embrace for thousands of premature babies born every year across the globe. They often die within their first few months of life simply because they are too small to keep themselves warm.
I had an instant connection to the vital work that the Embrace team is doing. You see, I was born three months premature, weighing one pound, six ounces. I remained in the hospital for 110 days and am now legally blind as a result. I cannot imagine the plethora of emotions my parents felt at my birth. In Sanskrit, Paras means “Remover of Obstacles.” Unsure if I would live or die, they had faith that I could overcome. Time and time again, I have proven doctors wrong and accomplished what they said would be impossible. The doctors told my parents I had little to no chance at a “normal’ life. They told my father when I was a kid that I would never ride a bike. My father, determined that his son could do anything in life, bought me an apple-red bicycle. Three months later, I rode that bike around my neighborhood.
I contacted Embrace and reached out to my local city community and school, and within three months, we knew we had something special. I assembled a team and together we began to brainstorm ideas for an event, “Embrace the Talent”. The event would be a comedy night and talent show, which would highlight acts from the local area. Throughout the successive three months we gathered numerous acts, and gained sponsorships from various companies. On Monday June 27th 2011, the fruits of our labor were visible as over 150 people, including the mayor, gathered in the local Community Center to enjoy the event. In total, “Embrace the Talent” raised $3,029.10 all of which will go directly to saving the lives of premature infants.
As I look forward to the next four years at the UC Berkeley, I am reminded of what Robert Kennedy once said, “Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total; of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.” That is advice I will certainly embrace, as I continue to live my life in the spirit of service.
Tags change, event, fundraiser, overcome, paras, premature
Posted by christina
Tue, 30 Nov 2010 06:28:00 GMT
To finish up Premature Infant Awareness Month, we have a special guest blog post by Dr. Saudamini Nesargi who is helping us with our clinical trials at St. John’s Hospital in Bangalore, India.
Temperatures in Bangalore have dropped in the last few days and most of us enjoy it. We drink something warm, wear woolen clothes and keep the doors and windows closed. If not, we shiver hope the sun starts shining again soon. But what if you a were little premature baby who could do none of these things…not even shiver to keep yourself warm?What if you had to rely completely on others and often inadequate resources just to keep warm?
This unfortunately is the situation for one third of all babies born in India. We have an additional problem, not only of preterm babies, but also of babies born at term whose weight is so low, they simply do not have the required amount of fat to insulate them to keep them warm.
I work in the neonatal intensive care unit of a tertiary hospital in Bangalore and a few days ago a baby arrived in the emergency room with a temperature of 33 degrees centigrade. (Almost 4 degrees below normal). He was 1200g, born 12 weeks preterm and had treatable congenital anomalies requiring immediate surgery. He was just hours old and had traveled across two states in a bus just to reach us.
He picked up an infection on the way, was bleeding due to liver damage, and was barely breathing- all because of hypothermia. All this meant a delay in surgery, increased cost because of longer hospital stay and sadly for the little boy-his parents did not have the means to continue treatment and he was taken back home- untreated.
This is about just one baby and I wish he were the exception rather than the rule. Most babies coming to us from other hospitals come from significant distances and come hypothermic. This instantly puts them at a higher risk of mortality even with the best of treatment that we have to offer. What they need is something to keep them warm. Something simple, which works well, without electricity, is affordable and easy to use.
What they need is an EMBRACE……
–Dr. Saudamini Nesargi
Tags baby, doctor, pregnancy, premature, surgery, thankful
Posted by christina
Wed, 24 Nov 2010 09:36:00 GMT
The first five months of my pregnancy were smooth and without incident. At a routine check up at 22 weeks, my physicians and the ambulatory technicians conducting my exam discovered that I was a few hours away from being dilated and going into pre-term labor. If delivered, it would have been extremely unlikely that our daughter would have survived. I was immediately admitted into the hospital. The next morning, I had surgery conducted by one of New York City’s leading maternal-fetal medicine specialists to promote the duration of my pregnancy.
Afterward, the obstetricians guiding my care advised me to take it easy to ensure my pregnancy would last as long as possible. With optimism, positive energy, and a team of clinicians monitoring my pregnancy, we made it to nearly 36 weeks. My daughter was born exactly one month before her due date, weighing 6 pounds and measuring nearly 20 inches. My husband and I were thrilled and relieved that she was in good enough health and weight to avoid admission to the neonatal intensive care unit. We all went home together two days after she was born.
Without dedicated obstetricians, maternal-fetal medicine specialists, ambulatory technicians, and nurses skilled in high-risk pregnancies and deliveries, my daughter probably would not have had the smooth entry into the world that she did. My husband and I are immensely grateful for the high quality care, attention and nurture she received from a team of people trained to promote the survival of newborns. Now 20 months old, our daughter is a reminder of the incredible medical care we were lucky enough to be afforded and drives our commitment to ensure all mothers, fathers and newborns around the world have the same access.
–Kalpana, Embrace volunteer
Tags baby, daughter, doctor, pregnancy, premature, surgery, thankful
Posted by christina
Tue, 23 Nov 2010 08:26:00 GMT
We’ve asked a few Embrace supporters to share stories of their child’s birth to help highlight the fact that prematurity is still a major issue in America, and around the world. Most of us in America are lucky enough to have world-class neonatal care, but as March of Dimes notes, more newborns die from premature birth than from any other cause. Embrace hopes to reduce neonatal mortality and morbidity, please help is spread the word!
Toby’s Story
On November 01, 2008, for no apparent reason and with no time to prepare our son was born three and half months early, Toby, was born at 25 weeks at a U.K. hospital. He weighed 1 pound and 14 oz or 860g. He was transferred to a specialist hospital where he was cared for in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for the first three months of his life. When we arrived at the ICU unit, it was very daunting, but the presence of medical specialists and modern medical equipment was very reassuring for us.
The hours passed and we started to comprehend the implications of his early arrival. As he lay in his incubator for treatment and warmth, there was a constant stream of various doctors and nurses tending to his needs. Toby was tiny, but he often had something attached to every limb for all the different drugs. He needed to receive multiple medical interventions, including, bagging for when his oxygen saturation became too low, they also used medication to close an open duct in his heart, medication for several infections and he needed photo therapy and eight blood transfusions
Our little baby boy was on a ventilator for 6 weeks. The treatment used to get him off the ventilator was complicated, but he gradually progressed to only needing nasal prongs. When Toby moved to the high dependency unit, he no longer needed an incubator, but still needed to be kept warm; he slept on a heated mattress.
As he got stronger, he was transferred back to the special care unit at the hospital where he was born, during his time there he was transferred back and forth to specialist hospitals for laser treatment in both eyes and a hernia operation, Eventually he was able to do normal things, like have a bath, wear clothes, feed with out a tube and have lots of cuddles. With support from specialists, it took Toby another three months of slow weaning off the oxygen, Toby Finally came home on March 24, 2009!
Toby is now 2 years old. He is a very happy, healthy, beautiful bouncy boy with a good appetite for food and cuddles. We are very proud of him and immensely grateful for the many medical staff that looked after him.
–Proud mother and Embrace supporter, Hannah
Tags baby, life, premature, thankful
Posted by christina
Mon, 11 Oct 2010 07:30:00 GMT
Hi Embrace,
Our grandson was born two weeks early on September 24, 2010. He and his mom were sent home September 26th despite the fact that they could not regulate his body temp for an extended period of time. Their insurance company has a nurse who visits the home of newborns the day after they are released. Luckily she was concerned enough about his temp and pulse that she asked the parents if she could stop by the next morning. When she arrived his pulse was 75 and his temp 95; his birth weight of 5.75 had dropped to 4.14. We believe if she had not been so attentive he would have died. He was taken to the Children’s Hospital emergeny room here in Aurora, CO and admitted to the NICU. He was put on oxygen and an electronic monitoring heat lamp. After tests showed no underlying cause other than the low weight he was sent home. His parents continue to struggle to keep his temp up but it is an up hill battle. Your product is an answer to our prayers if it is now available.
-Ginnie, Colorado, USA
Tags need, NICU, premature, US, warmth
Posted by christina
Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:17:00 GMT
We always get touching stories from people around the world who need Embrace, and we wish could save all the helpless babies. I will be periodically share these stories with you so you can see what helps to fuel our drive to get our product to market!
Dear Embrace,
I would love to share some of my own personal experiences with premature babies… but the truth is I don’t have any because the majority of these babies are never given a chance to make it out of the hospital. Because there are no incubators the babies are left to die. They are put on a table or directly in the trash to die without even the comforting touch of their mothers in those final moments (these do come from personal stories of people I know). THIS is why I am interested in Embrace. I have been involved in caring for abandoned babies, but I would like to make it known to the hospital here that I want to open my home for premature babies as well. Or at least to offer assistance to mothers with premature/low birth weight babies.
-Crystal
Tags babies, death, Embrace, incubators, inspiration, premature | no comments