Thérèse’s seventh child was born with a cleft lip and palate
marring her tiny mouth. Thérèse knew something was terribly wrong; she
had never seen or heard of anything like this before. Her neighbours
openly laughed at Elisabeth’s face, saying there was nothing Thérèse
could do to save her baby. Elisabeth was unable to breast feed
successfully due to her malformed palate. She began to lose weight
dramatically. Even her father thought the she would die.
Thérèse did the very best she could, and barely kept her baby alive
by feeding her diluted sweetened condensed milk. She felt burdened by
the thought that Elisabeth would be like this for the remainder of her
life.
A couple of months later someone at church told Thérèse the Mercy
Ship was returning to Madagascar soon. They were sure Elisabeth’s
condition could be fixed on board – for free. Thérèse was anxious and
overjoyed, hopeful and fearful all at the same time as she waited for
the ship to come.
Elisabeth was three months old and weighed a fragile 2.1 kg (4.6 lbs)
when Thérèse first brought her to be accessed. For eight weeks they
received care from our Infant Feeding Program, and she doubled her
weight. At that point she was strong enough to be admitted for her first
surgery – the restoration of her cleft lip. It was such a joy to visit
Mum and baby in the ward, and just watch her transformation. In just a
little over a week after surgery her stitches were out, and her tiny
lips were beautifully formed.
Thérèse’s village neighbours were completely shocked when mother and
daughter returned. Elisabeth looked like every other baby. “It’s done!
It really happened, God was really with them!” they exclaimed.
Most weeks I catch up with Thérèse and Elisabeth as they continue to
received dietary support. When the baby is 10 months old she will be
able to have the second operation she needs on board – the restoration
of her palate.
Elisabeth will then have the ability to eat and speak normally – for the first time in her life.
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