Born 2 months early, Dorothy and Manuel’s baby boy was barely clinging to life during birth. Now, after developing severe breathing issues and other complications, the 1-month-old baby desperately needs to remain in the NICU and undergo treatment for over 6 weeks to come out alive. Dorothy and Manuel are giving their best but their financial condition is making it very hard to provide for the treatments their baby boy needs.


Dorothy and Manuel in the NICU beside their first child

Dorothy’s baby was extremely critical at birth

“He wouldn’t cry after birth. They needed to apply some pressure on his abdomen to make him cry. But, he couldn’t breathe at all. They took him to the NICU immediately. Dorothy didn’t even have the chance to look at the baby, his condition was so severe.” – Manuel

Apart from the breathing issues, the newborn also lost over 20% of his bodyweight right after birth. This is extremely dangerous and he couldn’t stay alive without life-support.


1-month-old baby of Dorothy 

“After losing weight, he was just 800 grams. You can imagine how light that is. He was so weak and he needed to be in the NICU. But, the hospital we were in didn’t have the equipment needed to save my son. Dorothy cried so much because we were told to take our baby elsewhere and he had to travel so much in such a critical state.” – Manuel

Dorothy’s baby made it alive to the NICU at a different hospital and is currently on life-support and feeding tubes to help him with breathing and gaining weight respectively. 

The 1-month-old’s condition frightened Manuel

During his recovery in the NICU, in between, the 1-month-old’s heart was causing him pain too. Now, the baby received the treatment for his heart, which is beating normally for the time being.

“One of his major arteries wasn’t functioning normally. This was so scary. He’s already on life-support and now this. I couldn’t tell Dorothy any of this because she would lose control and cry endlessly. Any mother would.” – Manuel

This is Dorothy’s first child but not the first time she was pregnant

“We’ve been married for over 4 years now. We’ve tried so hard for a baby and had so many issues! Finally, one day, Dorothy was pregnant. Later, we found out that the pregnancy had occurred in the fallopian tube. Her life was in danger and her fallopian tube was surgically removed. We were overjoyed when we first knew that we were going to have a baby but this broke our hearts. Then a few years later, through an IUI treatment, she got pregnant again and it seemed like we’re finally going to have our first baby. We’ve been through a lot of pain and hard times to make this happen and now, with my son’s condition, it seems like he difficulties never leave us.” – Manuel

Manuel and Dorothy’s 1-month-old cannot live without the NICU

1-month-old baby of Dorothy needs to be in the NICU for, at least, 6 more weeks if he were to make it out alive. Manuel works in a construction company and earns a small sum of Rs. 250/day.

The baby is on crucial life-support and he has high chances of recovering and emerging out as a healthy baby. His weight has increased too but Manuel has absolutely no funds to continue paying for the life-saving treatment the 1-month-old needs.

Dorothy, on the other hand, cannot wait to hold her baby for the first time.

How you can help

Manuel and Dorothy’s 1-month-old baby cannot live without the continued treatment at the NICU. He needs to stay there for 6-7 weeks more and this would cost a total of Rs. 9.5 lakhs. To keep his son alive until now, Manuel has already spent over 2 lakhs and now, he is left with nothing. He needs your support to save his son.

Your support will save 1-month-old baby of Dorothy and will ensure that emerges out of the NICU alive.