Where There Is No Doctor 2011 319
If your child is born with a birth defect, take him to a health center. Often
something can be done.
♦ For cross-eyes, see p. 223.
♦ If an extra finger or toe is very small with no
bone in it, tie a string around it very tightly.
It will dry up and fall off. If it is larger or has
bone in it, either leave it or have it taken off by
surgery.
♦ If a newborn baby’s feet are turned
inward or have the wrong shape
(clubbed), try to bend them to
normal shape. If you can do this
easily, repeat this several times each
day. The feet (or foot) should slowly
grow to be normal.
If you cannot bend the baby’s
feet to normal, take him at once to
a health center where his feet can
be strapped in a correct position or
put in casts. For the best results, it is
important to do this within 2 days
after birth.
CLUB FOOT
WITH CAST
♦ If a baby’s lip or the top of his mouth
(palate) is divided (cleft), he may
have trouble breastfeeding and
need to be fed with a spoon or
dropper. With surgery, his lip and
palate can be made to look almost
normal. The best age for surgery is
usually at 4 to 6 months for the lip,
and at 18 months for the palate.
Hare lip
and
Cleft Palate
7. Difficulties before and during birth sometimes result in brain damage that
causes a child to be spastic or have seizures (fits). The chance of damage is
greater if at birth the baby is slow to breathe, or if the midwife injected the mother
with medicine to speed up the birth or to ‘give force’ to the mother (p. 266) before
the baby was born.
Be careful in your choice of a midwife—and do not let your midwife use
medicines to speed up the birth.
For more information on children with birth defects, see Disabled Village Children,
Chapter 12.