INFANT BORN WITHOUT ANUS NEEDS HELP
Baby born without anus Needs P120 000 for surgical operation
A Zimbabwean mother, whose child was born at Deborah Retief Memorial Hospital in Mochudi one month ago without an anus is crying for help.
The parents, both of Zimbabwean origin, are now appealing to Batswana to help their child undergo an urgent surgery which demands over P120 000.
The mother, Beauty Mafumbate told the Midweek Sun that she only has P3 000 in her account however as per the doctor’s advice, her baby needs an urgent surgical operation.
Currently her daughter uses the vagina to pass stools. “She is not feeding well, she is ill. She uses a drug to liquidate her waste. We give her cledomox three times a day,” she said.
Dr Goutam Chowdhury, senior consultant, Paediatric Surgeon at Bokamoso Private Hospital defined the condition as a spectrum of disorder.
He said it is mostly associated with abnormal communication between the urinary system and the rectum. The condition is also defined as Anorectal malformation, he said, adding that it is a type of congenital abnormality.
Mafumbate is confused and not sure where to start or what to say and to whom. She has been in Botswana for the past five years and currently resides at White City in Gaborone.
She survives by doing cleaning jobs or being a maid. The father is a builder but they are financially crippled to foot any hospital bills at the moment.
It breaks her heart that there is nothing she can do to help her child. She is forced to watch her baby daily not knowing what the next day will bring. If the surgery does not happen soon, the baby’s liver and kidneys might be affected by the drugs that are administered every day on her tiny and fragile body. As a result she decided to call out for help in order to save her baby.
The doctor shared that the disorder was quite common locally. In one year, 15 to 20 babies are born without an anus in Botswana. Chowdhury said the condition could be both simple and complex.
It is a life threatening condition that mostly requires multiple operations. The first one he advised should be done in the 24-36 hours of life.
The first operation is normally the opening of a temporary passage of stool (colostomy) in the abdomen to save life. This he shared requires a specialist surgeon to perform. “If no operation is done the baby might die. Those affected usually get cured after two to three surgeries. They might have constipation or some leakage of the stool,” he said. The good news is that 95 percent of such cases get completely cured after having multiple surgeries. Asked what pregnant mothers should do to prevent having babies with such a disorder, the doctor noted that nothing much could be done to prevent it.
However, he advised on good antenatal care and nutrition during pregnancy period.