A poor mother in Nghe An Province who gave birth to triplets is calling for help to treat her two ailing sons, after the third one died from various health problems.
Ngo Van Hoang and Ngo Van Bao at 7 months
The situation for seven-month-old Ngo Van Hoang and Ngo Van Bao who are suffering from grade 2 malnutrition looks fairly grim. Their mother, Hoang Thi Tiep, and their grandmother, Dau Thi Lien, stay at Nghe An Paediatric Hospital to take care of the children.
"They are still luckier than Thanh. He only stayed with us for five months and hadn't even been held by his own family," Tiep said.
Tiep got married in 2010, and when her fist child was one, she was expecting again. Due to poverty, she only had one check up four months into pregnancy. "When doctors said I'd have triplets, I started to worry. We were already struggling with one child and didn't know how we would deal with three more," she said.
Tiep's next check up was at eight months, when she felt stomach pains. She gave birth to three babies prematurely. However, the infants were quickly transferred to Nghe An Paediatric Hospital, and then to the National Vietnam National Hospital of Paediatrics after they were diagnosed with malnutrition and a blood infection from pregnancy.
After two months, Hoang and Bao got better and were discharged but Thanh had to stay for five months and passed away because of biliary obstruction, thrombocytopenia and hepatitis.
Tiep and her mother take care of the children at the hospital
"Hoang and Bao also have thrombocytopenia and acute pneumonia, so we go to hospital frequently. The National Vietnam National Hospital of Paediatrics wanted to administer the health checks but we asked to move back to Nghe An Paediatric Hospital to save money. Our debt has already reached VND200 million (USD9,600)," Tiep's mother said.
Because they do not get treatments at registered local hospitals, but at central hospitals, they are only given 50% benefits for health insurance. Moreover, because Tiep and her mother stay in hospital, her husband has to bear all of the financial burden.
"Supplies for two babies, such as milk or diapers, cost us nearly VND1 million a week. No one dares to give us loans anymore. But we can pay our loans back over time, I only fear for my children's health." Tiep said.
Dr. Vuong Thanh Huyen from Nghe An Paediatric Hospital's Respiratory Faculty said, "Hoang and Bao have to visit the hospital frequently because they were born premature, and their immune systems are weak. It's harder to treat them than other children."
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