Humans of Safe Care, Saving Lives

This is the second in a series of profiles of the dedicated individuals behind the Safe Care, Saving Lives project. Safe Care, Saving Lives is a quality improvement project to improve neonatal care in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. 

“I lost my mother when I was thirteen years old. From that young age, I fulfilled the role of being a mother to my younger siblings. My father, a warden with the Boys Hostel of the Church of South India, imbued me with a zeal to serve mankind and to have a spiritual outlook on life. This was my first realization that my calling in life was to be a nurse.

I trained in general nursing and midwifery and entered government service in the year 2000. I got married around the same time and faced several personal and professional challenges. I had a series of miscarriages and a molar pregnancy that required chemotherapy. The resolve to be a mother did not desert me, neither did my faith in God. I was blessed with a baby boy, who is now a strapping eleven year old. This phase of life taught me the importance of motherhood and every mother’s right to have a healthy baby. Ensuring that every newborn has the right to live a healthy and fruitful life has become my life’s mission.

Over the last fifteen years, I have worked as a midwife and as a specialist nurse in the newborn unit. Balancing family life and work has not been easy. Two years ago, my husband had a near fatal accident. Being a nurse came in handy. I would work my shift in the hospital and rush home to take care of my husband and young son.

All this would not have been possible without the help of my fellow nurses and doctors. Today, I am a member of the Society of Midwives. I seek to inspire and train my fellow nurses toward excellence.”