Sophia is a beautiful one-week-old baby girl from Tanzania. “Sophia’s mother reports to have felt mild labor pains the evening before giving birth to her daughter,” shares our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF). “But when morning came so did Sophia!” She is the second child born to her parents, who are two small scale farmers.
AMHF explains, “Sophia was born with an open lesion on her lower back which is leaking cerebral spinal fluid.” This condition is called myelomeningocoele. If untreated, she will be at great risk of contracting an infection. Secondary to this condition, Sofia is “showing signs of hydrocephalus” reports AMHF. Hydrocephalus is an excessive accumulation of fluid in the brain that may lead to other health problems.
$1200 will fund surgery to treat the myelomeningocoele and hydrocephalus. These funds will cover the surgical procedures, antibiotics, wound dressings, as well as Sophia’s hospital stay.
“The lesion on Sophia’s back will heal, preventing easy contraction of infection,” AMHF predicts. “Once the shunt is inserted, Sophia will be out of the risk of losing her eyesight, she will have a normal size head, which will allow her good trunk control, and later, the ability to sit, stand, and walk.”
“I just pray that my baby will be ok,” Sophia’s mother expresses. “I will be happy to see her healthy, growing like other children, and live a better life when she grows up.”