Mandy is the new born we recently sent to Shanghai for her spina bifida removal surgery. Today I received an some gorgeous photos on this precious one along with some cute info written by Jessica Ling (our medical manager):

“She likes to be held. She has bright eyes and will look at you when you are talking to her. She makes some baby talk, just like she can understand you!! Her neck is strong. She can turn her face from one side to other side by herself when lying on her tummy. she is not fussy, only cries when she is hungry or wants to be held. When she cries,her voice just like a little cute donkey!! LOL!!”

Spinal bifida is a very common birth defect among Chinese babies. It is also one of the causes to club foot. Most of the children Baobei has helped had suffered from spinal bifida, and quite a few of them arrived with club foot already. The spinal bifida surgery itself can prevent the children’s feet from becoming worse, but it can not fix their club feet. The fact is that the earlier club-foot treatment is provided, the better result the children will get. As Baobei Foundation, we believe it is important if we can follow through the treatment after the spinal bifida surgery.

This summer, Yang and Kaykay have been going through their casting treatment for their club feet. This treatment is known as the Ponseti Method. This is a non-surgical technique developed by Ignacio Ponseti M.D.. We are so thankful to know Dr Wang, the orthopedic surgeon in SCMC, who was trained directly by Dr. Ponseti in Iowa Univeristy. Dr Wang is the 1st doctor who received the Ponseti Method License in China and has helped many children with club foot. He has been so kind and gave our babies huge discount on each casting section. After a serial of casting over this summer, both girls have shown some huge improvement on their feet. As a matter of fact, Kaykay was already on shoes yesterday and her feet already looked “happy” and almost like normal now. Yang’s was a more severe case but we are hoping to see Happy Feet soon too!