Giving babies a chance at life

When Xiao Long was first picked up by Little Flower, he just weighed 930 grams 10 days after born. [Photo Provided To China Daily]

The two-story villa, donated by a Taiwanese couple, is divided into two wards: upstairs for physically-challenged infants and the downstairs for those recovering.

Downstairs is a 14-square-meter play area. Dolls, picture books, colorful beads and balls and a full set of play house scenes are laid out for the kids who suffer cleft lips, albinism, strephenopodia, biliary atresia or congenital heart disease.

Xiao Long is one of the early successes.

When he was brought to the home in February 2012, he weighed 930 grams on the 10th day after birth. Though Little Flower has since saved babies weighing 610 grams, Xiao Long's condition was critical at the time.

He also suffered pneumonia and anaemia.

Most premature babies have other problems too, so not everyone is suitable for KMC, says Liu Dong, a cardiac surgeon at Beijing's Anzhen Hospital, who has treated many babies in Little Flower.

When Xiao Long was a year old, he seemed no different from other boys of his age, and aged 2, he has been adopted by an American family.

"Every month the family sends pictures of Xiao Long. These photos make me happy," says Chen, who was Xiao Long's nursing mother.

She and her colleagues are cheered when a child is adopted by a loving family. However, many are not so lucky. From their first breath, they struggle to survive.

Taotao was one who eventually succumbed.

Lin Ying, who is in charge of the "mothers" team says: "Everyone called him 'Radish'. His arms and legs were particularly thin and that made his head seem even bigger. "

Taotao weighed 4 kilos when he arrived at the home at one year old as a result of complex congenital heart disease (CCHD).

But he was a cute little boy.

"A few months after Taotao settled here, he had major surgery. Most of us couldn't believe he would survive it, but he did," Lin recalls.

But just as he seemed to be improving, he died during minor surgery, aged 2 and a half.

Chen Fang was heartbroken when she heard the news. A year later, she still weeps when she remembers him.

Taotao's urn was buried on a mountain where Little Flower staff still pray for him, says a staff member.

For CCHD patients, the death rate can be as high as 15 percent, says Liu Dong.

By August this year, the home had received 2,496 babies, including 211 premature orphans and 28 premature babies from poor families.

The survival rate from surgery was 95 percent.