Guest Contributor
As a neurosurgeon-in-training, an important part of my work is caring for infants who are born with Spina Bifida (“split spine”). This is a birth defect in which there is incomplete closure of the spine and the protective coverings of the spinal cord. B12 deficiency on the part of the mother is a major culprit, and affected children are born premature with their spinal cords essentially exposed to the outside world. I have operated on babies such as this, often less than 30 weeks of age, to repair their spinal defects. It is a serious surgery, and you can imagine how frightened the newly-minted parents are for their newborns.
After I started participating in these operations, as part of my surgical training, I came to realize that the same birth defects are far too common in the war-torn areas in Sri Lanka. Decades of war, displacement, and deprivation has created a generation of women (often widowed) who are malnourished. They endure through pregnancy without proper nutrition, putting their unborn children at risk of premature birth and defects such as Spina Bifida. This is heart-breaking. If you could give a mother the nourishment she needs during pregnancy and lactation, you would transform not just her life, but the life of her future child.
The International Medical Health Organization (www.theimho.org) has an innovative program to do just this. Just $70 pays for comprehensive nutrition supplements for one mother through 8 months of pregnancy and 6 months of lactation. That’s a Starbucks latte, or $5, once a month. Not a single mother who has received these supplements from the IMHO has given birth to a child prematurely. Countless birth defects have undoubtedly been avoided.
No child should have to be born at less than 30 weeks with an exposed spinal cord – often requiring major surgery – especially when basic nutrition can help prevent it. Tamil children back home, who already have to face so many odds to make it in this world, don’t need any more obstacles. That is why I chose to raise awareness through Ideas To Impact (i2i) for the IMHO’s nutrition program for malnourished pregnant mothers. With barely any skin off our back, we can be transform the lives of children before they are even born.
Make a contribution here: https://fundly.com/
Ideas To Impact (i2i): https://www.facebook.
The IMHO: http://www.theimho.org/
