Bhania and Yolanda’s Message of Hope

For the first three-and-a-half months of her pregnancy, Yolanda was nothing but excited.

Then she went for a routine ultrasound, and the doctor gave her shocking news: her baby would have a cleft.

She started crying. Yolanda did not know how to take care of a baby with a cleft. She did not know what, if anything, doctors could do to help.

Her family came to take care of her and tried to comfort her. Don’t worry, they said. Clefts are treatable with surgery. But she wasn’t even certain there was a cleft care provider in her town.

Six months later, Yolanda gave birth to a baby girl. She named her Bhania. It was beautiful just to hold her and look down at her little face.

But quickly, Yolanda’s fear and sadness — and her questions — returned: Where could she find treatment for Bhania’s cleft?

Yolanda visited the local hospital several times, but they offered no solutions and didn’t give her any advice on where she could go instead.

Finally, several months after Bhania was born, a man at Yolanda’s work showed her an advertisement in the newspaper for Misión Caritas Felices (MCF), a Smile Train partner.

Yolanda sprang into action. She woke up at 3 AM to take Bhania to MCF for an initial consultation. When the doctors determined that Bhania was too thin and her bloodwork was not optimal for surgery, Yolanda started tearing up.

It’s okay, the doctors reassured her, these things are treatable. They sent Yolanda home with directions on how to feed Bhania and get her in the right condition for surgery.

Sure enough, when the doctors checked back a month later, the feeding plan had worked and Bhania was ready!

Bhania’s cleft lip surgery took place in the morning. She and Yolanda were home by the afternoon. The doctors at MCF stayed in regular contact, answering all of Yolanda’s questions.

A year later, Bhania had cleft palate surgery. Yolanda was nervous, but the doctors once again soothed her fears, and the procedure was a complete success.

Today, Bhania is a third grader who loves math and always does her schoolwork. She has a lot of friends and enjoys playing tag and hide and seek. At home, she helps Yolanda make the bed and sweep up. When she gets older, she wants to be a hospital manager like her Aunt Ofelia.

“Thank you, doctors, for helping me,” Bhania says to the team at MCF. “Thank you very much.”

“I thank Smile Train for the support they have given us and Misión Caritas Felices and all their doctors and staff,” Yolanda adds. “They are always in my prayers that they will continue to help more moms in need.

“Moms, don’t be discouraged. There is a solution.”