It is with great pride and excitement that ShanghaiMamas would like to announce our recent partnership with the Baobei Foundation as of March 01, 2017.
Founded in 2008 by a native Chinese and three expatriates in Shanghai, Baobei Foundation provides surgeries and post-surgical rehabilitation for Chinese orphans with life-threatening birth defects. Since its inception, Baobei has provided over 200 surgeries for over 100 orphans who were near death, but are now healthy and living with permanent families.
Baobei works in partnership with regional child welfare institutions throughout China to provide life-saving surgeries for orphans, focusing on those with neurological, gastroenterological and tumor-related defects such as spina bifida, hydrocephalus, teratoma, and gastroschisis. Baobei only works with official government-sanctioned child welfare institutions. Making use of the excellent medical expertise and facilities in Shanghai hospitals, Baobei aims to provide the highest quality surgical care available. Baobei currently has partner relationships with four hospitals, Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, Xinhua Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Shanghai and Shanghai United Family Hospital.
Baobei’s unique healing home model uses volunteer families to continue the children’s recovery and rehabilitation process after hospital discharge, leading to a remarkably high success rates. Even though Baobei children undergo extremely complex surgeries, Baobei maintains low annual expenditures per child due to its elimination of rental and administrative overhead costs. Baobei offers long-term commitment to abandoned children from birth until they are settled into permanent homes by the China Center of Adoption Affairs. Baobei provides approximately thirty-five surgeries annually. At any given moment, there are about thirty children in the Baobei system.
Baby Jill
Baobei’s newest foster baby named Jill was born with spina bifida, club feet, anal atresia and several other conditions. Jill is an adorable 1 year old baby who came to Baobei Foundation because of her many medical challenges, when she was about 1 month old. She only weighed 2kg so the main goal was to help her put on weight so that she could be eligible for surgery. Jill stayed with a foster family who devoted their time to get her ready to face the first of several surgeries to come.
Once Jill was over 3kg she had her first surgery for her spina bifida. Following the successful surgery she then started regular orthopedic appointments for the casting of her feet which were changed and slightly repositioned every 2 weeks. In October Jill suffered from a severe infection which led to respiratory failure and she was in PICU for 5 weeks. She had a very slim chance in her condition of fighting the infection and everyone was prepared for the worst. The doctors suggested one last treatment running her blood through a purification system which again had a very limited chance of success. Baobei chose to do it, just as one would do anything for one’s own child. Jill is a fighter and she is now recovering, not only from the blood treatment, but also from surgery last week which will help limit future infections. She has a long road ahead of her and more surgeries to come but Jill continues to amaze us with her strength, and how she smiles her way through it all, embracing every day that she is given.
ShanghaiMamas will continue to provide updates on Baby Jill and all our babies that we will support through the Baobei Foundation.
As always, thank you for being the amazing parents you are, and for helping us to support this wonderfully deserving cause. Please don’t hesitate to contact us to find out how you can get involved at shmamas@gmail.com or visit the Baobei website at www.baobeifoundation.org
The ShanghaiMamas Team