“Just when we thought everything was falling into place, we were told our new-born needs life-support for 3 weeks in the least, to survive. I was craving to see him. But not this early, not in this state – with tubes in his tiny nose.” - Sivamma, mother

Coming from a small village in Andhra, Sivamma and Venkata needed nothing more from life than to hear the laughter of their baby echoing in their otherwise empty house. 23 years of marriage and they were without a child. Their daily routine involved waking up, farming, watching programmes on their black and white TV, getting back to sleep, and praying for a child every minute they got in-between.

23 years later, their prayers were answered and Sivamma was soon to be a mother. A mother of twins!

“Our joy knew no bounds. Just when we were giving up, it was like a miracle. We spent every minute talking about our child, and his/her future. We had come to Chennai for consulting and I was told I was going to have not one, but 2 babies! We couldn’t believe our ears. Our prayers were generously answered. I took very good care of my health, all for the babies. And yet, things turned complicated overnight.” – Sivamma, mother.

Hardly 7 months later, on one of such visits to Chennai for a consultation, Sivamma had to be admitted immediately. She gave birth to the twins, a boy and a girl, both of them being extreme pre-term babies. Each weighed hardly 1 kg. With such complications, there was no question of travelling back to their village. In order to survive, the babies were admitted in the NICU immediately.

 

We waited so long to see him. Now, all we can do is pray. We really hope our son survives this. 

“Both my kids are fighters. Our girl is doing better. But our boy is struggling for his life. These past months, we spent our time discussing how we’d make their life struggle-free, unlike ours. But fate had it this way. Just born, he’s already fighting his own battle and we are helpless."

Sivamma’s premature baby boy has been in the NICU for a week now, and needs a minimum of 3 more weeks to survive. He has a severe respiratory distress syndrome, and has trouble breathing on his own, among other complications. He is being constantly monitored and is on mechanical ventilation.  All by themselves in Chennai, the farmers are struggling to raise funds to save their new-born.

“I am a farmer. My wife plucks fruits, and also helps me with farming. We get a daily wage of 100-200 each. We had saved every extra penny in the faint hope that someday, we’ll have kids. Ever since we knew she was pregnant till now; we’ve exhausted our meagre savings and are in debt already. It frightens us. We are simple people and we aren't asking for much. We just want to take our new-born babies home and keep them safe.  ”

 
He has barely opened his eyes. Yet he’s battling death already. Your generous contribution can help save Sivamma's baby.