Woman, doc save baby who was dumped by kin for being ‘unlucky’

A young mother’s grit and determination to get timely medical intervention and fight against superstition, helped save the life of her newborn son in Coimbatore.

The boy baby, born to Maheshwari, wife of Manikandan, an auto driver from Suleswaranpatty near Pollachi, December 13, had a rare anatomical defect. The infant was unable to pass stools as he was born without an opening for his anal passage. As the Pollachi Government Hospital where he was born did not have a surgeon, the baby was referred to Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) for further treatment. Manikandan and his relatives admitted the baby there. However, in an unfortunate turn of events, Manikandan suffered a cardiac arrest and died on Saturday, just a day after the baby was born. Believing the baby to have brought misfortune to the family, relatives abandoned him at CMCH.

Meanwhile, Maheshwari, who was still recovering at the Pollachi GH, was told about her husband’s demise, and she also learned that her newborn had been ‘orphaned’ in CMCH.

Despite her grief and opposition from relatives, the determined mother forced her relatives to bring back the baby from CMCH. When they brought the baby back to Pollachi GH, the doctors took it up as a challenge to save the life of the infant.

With no surgeons in the hospital, the doctors sought the help of Kannan, a retired Superintendent of Pollachi GH, who took up the complicated challenge of performing colostomy on the baby. “We performed colostomy, a surgical procedure for the baby to pass faeces safely. The baby is still under observation and is recuperating fast,” said Kannan, who operatedon Sunday.

Both Kanan and Maheshwari have come in for praise from the public, for fighting the odds and saving the baby’s life.