I had heard of stories but I could not believe my eyes when I was confronted with the issue head on!
Friends, this is no fable. But for the fact that medical ethics demands tact and patient confidentiality, a little more detail will have been added.

Right in front of me was this mother of a lovely baby, barely a week old. Though she was fully sound mentally and well-dressed, her countenance was one of apathy. She just did not care. And her message was sad but rather resounding….. “Take my baby away. I don’t want him. I can’t take care of him”. No amount of words from health staff and social welfare staff could persuade her to change her decision. I was shocked to the bone.

This was a clear deviation from the usual. The usual cases where mothers abandon their babies only for good Samaritans to find them and get help for them. Here in front of me was a mother herself physically “donating” her baby!

A few hours ago, right across the same floor of my ward, I had struggled to console a couple who burst into uncontrollable tears after losing a baby. But now, here was a healthy baby whose mother was just giving him up. Unbelievable! Imagine the psychological trauma for such a child growing up, knowing full well that he was abandoned, given up by his own mother.

This is indeed a wake up call for all. What on earth would push a mother to give up this baby? Granted that the driver’s mate of a father absconded, where was the support from her extended family? What is society doing to stem the tide of unplanned pregnancies?

What can everyday citizens like you and me do to ensure that every newborn arrives to a standing ovation, regardless of whether those applauding his or her arrival live in mansions or abide under tents?
What kind of social intervention or child development policy can fully heal such a child, deeply wounded emotionally from the time he took his first breath?

This is our guiding principle at the NNSS—Until we place priority on newborn survival and well-being, we will have no children strong enough, no children intelligent enough and no children emotionally stable enough to benefit from any child-based social intervention. The first cut is the deepest!

At the NNSS we seek to do our part and hope to do more with the introduction of the Olsson Newborn Grant. What will you do to help my friend? Food for thought, I guess.

And so here was this happy baby on his way to a beautiful world. He starts a chat with his mother…”Mummy I am so happy to be coming to you after nine long months. I would finally see your face”.
And tell me my dear friends, which baby would ever place such a phone call if he knew the answer on the other end would be a deep, cold reply…..”I am sorry I don’t need you now?”