En-Smiling, A Smile for The Children

Sushmita Kumal, age 24, is a residence of Vanu ward # 1 Dumre Bhansar. She has received education up to tenth grade. She got married at the age of 20 with Karma Bhadur Kisan of the same village. Her family consists of 6 members. In order to financially run the family, she and her husband own a grocery store.

After a year of her marriage, she had her first pregnancy. She had been to Pokhara Health Science Academy for her antenatal checkup. Her health condition was normal.

Her pregnancy due date was on 16 December 2017, but two weeks before the date she had a severe abdominal pain. That morning she had taken a shower with cold water, so she thought that the pain could have arose due to cold. However, it persisted for a long time so she went to the hospital along with her mother for checkup. All her reports were normal, so she went back to her home. Later, from late evening she had abdominal pain throughout the night.

Next morning, around 6 AM, she went to hospital and admitted. On the same day at 3:22 PM she gave a birth to a baby boy weighted 3.2 KG.  After the delivery, she was transferred to the next room Every woman in the room had their baby with them. She was in dilemma ” Where is my baby? Why the nurses did not give me my baby?” She was preoccupied by several negative thoughts. Later her mother told her that her newborn was admitted to NICU ward due to the respiratory problem. She was more worried after hearing it. She was wondering “Is my baby alive?”  Two hours of her post-delivery, a nurse came to her and handed her baby.

Sushmita voiced “I took my baby in my lap and feed him breast milk. That was the happiest moment. I feel so proud to be a mother.” Next day she was discharged along with her newborn from the hospital.

Sushmita  shared ” I came to know from the sisters that my son was in rolled at Golden Community EN-SMILLING Early Childhood Development (ECD) Center. The staff from ECD center call me until 6 months asking about the health status of my infant. They also made sure that I provided all the required routine vaccines to the baby. After the age of 6 months, the follow-up was every trimester. They also told me to visit the center with the baby for growth and development assessment and health checkup. I followed their instructions; my baby’s health was also checked by the pediatrician. After the health checkup was performed, sisters of the center assess the baby using different types of tools. They also ask us about the activities of the baby at home. They also measure the height, weight of the baby and test their hemoglobin as well. If they found any problem like anemia, malnutrition or any other, they immediately refer the baby to the concerned place.

Sushmita said ” I am grateful with EN-SMILLING center. Center tells us the development and growth of the baby with respect to age. I have a complete faith with this center. If my baby faces any problem, I call the sisters of the center. They give us proper advice and if there is any further need of care and treatment, they provide further suggestions.

Sushmita said” earlier we were not aware about the importance of toys to give to the child. Also, I did not know how crucial the two-way communication with baby was.  Now, because of this center, I realize it’s importance”.

Sushmita highly recommends this center to the mothers with their baby. She further whispered “This program is fantastic. All equipment like weighing machine, hemoglobin monitoring device here should have always in proper conditions. Such program should spear in other parts of the country too.