Bravehearts of the Foundation: Baby of Naveena
August 6, 2018 | Contributed by R Srivatsan
Naveena’s baby boy was born in PVS Hospital, in Kozhikode, Kerala. His CHD was diagnosed soon after birth, when his breathlessness came to the note of doctors. The baby needed emergency Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Connection (TAPVC) repair, and the parents were advised to take him to Amrita Institute. The baby was taken from Kozhikode to Kochi in an ICU ambulance, and was accompanied by his father, as well as his doctor. Upon arrival, the baby was received in the IMCU. Since the oxygen saturation of the baby was low, (65%), the baby needed an emergency TAPVC Repair, which was to be done in the next few hours. In TAPVC, all the four Pulmonary Veins from the lungs terminate at the right atrium instead of left atrium, because of which pure and impure blood mix and there is a significant increase in lung pressure. The baby’s father who works as an auto driver, earns around Rs 5000 per month thus would have been unable to afford the surgery for his first and only baby. Priyal and Amit Prabhu stepped in, and supported the surgery under the Aara Project, so the surgery could take place smoothly.