A Child's Child

During my rotation in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, I cared for a tiny baby who was born with a serious heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot. This defect consists of four heart abnormalities that lead to poor circulation of oxygenated blood to the body tissues. In short, the baby turns blue and stays blue.

The treatment for this condition, which includes constant monitoring and many open heart surgeries, would be overwhelming for any parent. But the parent of this baby was a 16 year old developmentally-delayed teenager.

This teenaged mother's family were not involved in her life at all. She was living with the 17 year old father of the baby in the home of the father's father. Both the baby's father and his father were on parole for sexual crimes. None of them had jobs, and they lived in an economically depressed rural town without transportation. Could it get any worse?

The 16 year old mother came in to visit her fragile little infant one day, who weighed all of 4 pounds. The mom was mentally delayed to the point that she couldn't remember watching me tube-fed the baby the day before. In fact, she couldn't remember anything from the last time she visited.

But I smiled as I watched the love in her eyes as she cooed to her baby. She lovingly cupped her hands around this fragile infant and intuitively cradled her close to her skin.

This baby may grow up sick and lack adequate health care. She may end up in limbo in the foster system. She may die early due to her broken heart.

But at least for today, she was safe as her mother held her tenderly.