Shirlet C., 1

Shirlet is a three-and-a-half-month-old baby girl, the first child of Ledisha Sakina, an 18-year-old single mother. Ledisha lives in a poor rural village and is solely supported by her elderly widowed mother. Since her pregnancy, she has faced numerous health issues and was abandoned during this difficult period. With the support of kind neighbors, she was taken to a nearby health facility to deliver her baby, and it was through one of them that she learned about Helpster Charity. Shirlet was born at the local facility while her mother was still unwell. She was delivered with a deformed umbilical cord that causes her pain and frequent crying, especially when she coughs. Over the past week, Shirlet has had a persistent cough and nasal congestion, and every coughing episode causes her to grab her umbilical area in pain. She also had irregular breathing since birth, which has since worsened, leading to a referral for specialized care. Due to the ongoing cough, surgery for her umbilical hernia has been postponed. When she was brought to the hospital, she was in severe respiratory distress and had to be immediately taken to the accident and emergency unit for nebulization to ease her breathing. She was also experiencing twitching, and the medical team was considering whether her symptoms were due to complications from poorly managed birth asphyxia or a severe upper respiratory infection (nasopharyngitis).

Shirllet was brought to hospital in pains, high fever, breathing difficulty and swollen umbilical. On Pediatrics' examination and investigations it was diagnosed as acute nasopharyngitis and hernia. The patient was admitted and managed with medication responding very well.

Prognosis is fair, but after stabilizing her, the child will have to be referred to a higher level facility for further management