Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation

A pregnant woman’s hardship turns to joy when her baby is born. However, for unknown reasons, some mothers give premature births. Their babies have to lie in incubators until they can breathe on their own and don’t require feeding through a nasogastric tube. But until then, anxious mothers spend a lot of time by the incubators. The wait can be tormenting.
 
On May 19, several Tzu Chi volunteers visited the Starship Children’s Hospital in Auck-land. In the intensive care unit for newborn babies, there were 20 blue, ergonomic chairs, made of anti-bacterial materials, donated by Tzu Chi. Mothers can sit more comfortably in these chairs while watching over their babies.
 
In the intensive care unit, the volunteers met a mother named Rachel sitting in one of the chairs with her baby, Cara, nestled against her chest. Cara was born 27 weeks early, and she weighed only 1,300 grams (almost 3 pounds) at birth. She had stayed in an incubator for five weeks, and now her vital signs were stable.
 
Rachel and her husband, Mark, expressed their gratitude to the volunteers upon learning that they represented the foundation that donated the chairs. Rachel said that the chair was comfortable to sit in, and it allowed Cara to lie against her easily. The smiles on Rachel’s and Mark’s faces filled the volunteers’ hearts with joy. They were happy to help make the mother’s and baby’s stay in the hospital more enjoyable.