Nurses and doctors care for baby abandoned in delivery ward; it was her parent's seventh child

Foto: S. Tasić

The girl, born at the beginning of August in Vranje, southern Serbia, has been left in the maternity ward and her parents do not want to take her home. A thirty-six-year-old pregnant woman from Targoviste gave birth to the baby on August 4, and the hospital staff named her Marija (Serbian version of the name Mary) to mark the holiday that coincides with her birthday.

The abandoned baby is doing well and is advancing nicely, says Dobrila Sosic, a pediatric neonatologist.

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"The mother gave birth naturally, this was her seventh delivery, the baby was born within term and received a grade of nine. At birth, the little girl was close to three kilograms, she is vital, active and well advanced. We care about her emotionally and in every other way. The mother immediately said she could not pick up the baby and left the ward a few days after giving birth. We do not go into the reasons, that's the responsibility of the Welfare Center in Targoviste, which is familiar with the case," - says Dr. Sosic.

Photo: S. Tasic

According to current legal regulations, when a mother, that is, the parents do not want to take their baby from the maternity ward, it is left in the neonatology ward for the first month and then goes to the children's ward of the hospital, where it stays until the Welfare Center finds an adequate solution.

The woman from Targoviste, who had her seventh child, probably for economic reasons and poor financial situation was not in a position to take over the child at birth.

The maternity hospital in Vranje says that they have taken all the necessary measures required in these situations, and that the Welfare Center in Trgoviste is in daily contact with the hospital, because the law leaves the possibility for parents to change their mind and pick up the baby after all.

Photo: S. Tasic

Sonja Prijic, a neonatology nurse and little Marija's godmother, kisses and hugs the baby who instinctively searches for her mother's breasts while held by the nurse.

"Mary is a good and calm baby, she rarely cries, only when she's hungry, her mother did not breastfeed her, we use the bottle. Based on our years of experience and work, we assess when the parents might return for the child and when they will not, because there have been people changing their minds and coming back for the baby. We experience the departure of children very emotionally, because we bond with them," says Prijic.

At the maternity hospital in Vranje, parents annually leave three babies who are taken over by welfare centers who take care of their further placement. Trgoviste is one of the most underdeveloped municipalities in Serbia, located along the southern border with North Macedonia.

The neonatology department of the Vranje Health Center has pretty much everything they need for little Marija, but they keep losing her tiny sock in the huge hospital washing machine. Nurses and doctors fall over themselves trying to be the ones to get to feed her, change her clothes, and pamper her.

Downstairs from this ward women who struggle with sterility are being treated, witnessing the irony of life.

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(Sladjana Tasic)