Day 5 – The twins

Today when I arrived at Shirabad clinic, I saw a mother waving to me with a baby in her arms, so I went to see her. I recognised her as the mother of premature twins I had visited when I first arrived in Zahedan. I remember her well I was home visiting in the community, when the home visitor asked us to visit a mother who had had twins. When we arrived at her house, we found two very small babies, who were having trouble feeding; the mother had no milk supply. When I examined the twins, the first one was small (less than 2500 grams) but not doing too badly another than being small. The second twin, as I opened the cloth he was wrapped in I found a very small, yellow baby, who was sick and so scrawny he was developing pressure areas on his hips and back.

I just said to the mother we need to go to our clinic as the baby needs to be admitted to hospital. Then I noticed the mother wasn’t very interactive, when I examined her she had a high fever and pneumonia (no wonder she was not very interactive, she didn’t have the energy), so we bundled up the family and arranged for them to come to our clinic. The mother was given treatment for her pneumonia and the smallest twin was sent straight to hospital with sepsis (infection). We then arranged for the mother to attend MOH to receive milk (they provide this service) as she had no milk supply to feed her babies. He mother returned the next day and told us she had been sent away from MOH, so I sent one of our home visitors back with her and she was able to receive some formula. We have been following the babies every week in our clinics since then and supplementing the supply of milk from MOH (as they are not providing enough for the twins).

Today she was here as the second twin was again sick, however looking at both of them and I hadn’t seen them both for a while and they were certainly looking much better than the first time I met them. It is funny now that I have been here a while, when I arrive at the clinic I get a wave and a smile form someone you have helped along the way, which is kind of nice.