Shaleen W., 1

Shaleen is a premature infant born at 28 weeks of gestation with a low birth weight of 1,895 grams. Shortly after birth, she developed severe breathing difficulty because her lungs were not yet fully developed. She was immediately admitted to the Newborn Unit, where she remained for 13 days receiving specialized care. To help her breathe, she was placed on Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), a machine that gently blows air through small tubes in the nose to keep the lungs open and make breathing easier. Because she was too weak to suck and swallow effectively, she could not breastfeed. She was therefore given intravenous fluids to prevent dehydration and low blood sugar while receiving oxygen therapy. As her condition improved, the oxygen was gradually reduced, and small amounts of expressed breast milk were introduced before she was able to feed safely. Shaleen's father, a hotel cleaner earning about KSh 3,000 per month, is the family's sole provider. They live in a one-room mud house without electricity and were unable to meet the cost of the prolonged specialized newborn care that was essential for her survival.

Shaleen was born extremely premature and developed low birth weight, respiratory distress syndrome, neonatal sepsis, and thrombocytopenia, placing her at high risk of respiratory failure, severe infection, bleeding, and death. She required prolonged admission in the Newborn Unit with CPAP support, oxygen therapy, intravenous antibiotics, fluids, nutritional support, and close monitoring. Following comprehensive treatment, her condition gradually stabilized, breathing improved, and feeds were successfully established. Her prognosis is cautiously favorable, although she requires regular pediatric follow-up, growth monitoring, nutritional support, and developmental assessment because premature infants remain at increased risk of delayed growth, recurrent infections, and developmental challenges.