It is not only a heart complaint but also lack of money for treatment that threatens the lives of four babies aged 19 days to 15 months in the care of Wadia children's hospital, Parel. The babies have holes in their hearts and need open heart surgery urgently.
It is not only a heart complaint but also lack of money for treatment that threatens the lives of four babies aged 19 days to 15 months in the care of Wadia children's hospital, Parel. The babies have holes in their hearts and need open heart surgery urgently.
The lifesaving surgery is tricky, given their age. It's also a surgery that the Wadia hospital does not have the facilities to conduct, and that overcrowded government hospitals do not have the time for. Only private hospitals do.
Wadia hospital has referred these parents to various private hospitals, which will charge Rs1.5 lakh to 3 lakh per operation.
Unable to afford the operation, the parents (who hail from various parts of the state) are desperately scouring the city for aid. They have approached charitable trusts to get part of the costs subsidised. And their success or failure may determine whether the city has a heart.
Is heart surgery on babies common?
No. Dr. Sumitra Venkatesh, paediatric cardiologist, Wadia hospital, said that very few public hospitals offer such surgery for babies. Mostly it is in the domain of the private sector.
Why doesn't any private hospital operate on these babies for free?
Private hospitals must conduct a certain percentage of operations for free, or at subsidised rates, depending on the patient's income level. But most private hospitals take just a month to run through their charity quota for the whole year.
What are the babies going through now?
Dr Venkatesh said, "All four babies suffer from breathing difficulties, recurring pneumonia, feeding difficulty and lack of weight gain. They are on medication but need urgent surgical intervention to correct their heart ailments. Also there is a myth among doctors and people that the surgery should be conducted only after the baby has grown. But sometimes a delay could prove fatal for the baby."
What does a hole in the heart do?
Holes in the heart disturb the normal flow of blood in the heart. The heart has two sides, and with each heartbeat, the right side of the heart pumps oxygen-poor blood to the lungs, while the left side gets oxygen-rich blood from the lungs and pumps it to the body. The two sides of the heart are divided by the septum. If the septum has holes, then some oxygen-rich and oxygen-poor blood mix inside the heart.
Are there other complications?
Yes. In one of the babies, a 19-day old boy, there is not only a hole between the right and left ventricles of the heart, but also a thickening of the right ventricle muscles, and defects in the valves of the heart.
What are the parents of the 19-day-old boy doing?
Said his mother, Lalitha Bhoir, a resident of Shahapur in Thane district: "I really don't understand what happened to my baby. The doctor told me and my husband that our baby suffers from a heart ailment which needs surgery urgently. My husband works in a private firm and does not have enough money for the surgery. My husband and other relatives are working on gathering money."
What is life like for the other parents?
Sanvi Pawar of Ratnagiri district is the mother of four-month old Vidhi Pawar, who has multiple holes in her heart. The mother said, "I stay in a village and my father stays in a Mumbai chawl room with other villagers, to find money for the operation. They have just gone to the Ambani hospital to understand how to gather money from various charitable trusts."
What does one of the private hospitals say?
Dr Ram Narain, executive director, Kokilaben Dhirubai Ambani hospital, Andheri, said, "Our social worker helped the patients' relatives to search for charitable trusts which can pay the remaining amount." Dr. Narain elaborated, "Every year we go beyond our statutory commitment to the patient as per charity rules. We have a tie-up with some individual donors and Rotary club, who help to bear the costs for poor patients. In a year we do around 150 paediatric cardiac surgeries, some of them almost free and some of these in a subsidised cost."
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