miraclefeet
Without proper treatment, many of these children walk only with great difficulty. The impact of this birth defect imposes physical, social and financial burdens that can be devastating - yet are avoidable.
The miraclefeet mission is to improve access to treatment of clubfoot for children in developing countries.
To learn more, please visit us at:
http://www.miraclefeet.org
miraclefeet is launching a program with Cure Clubfoot Worldwide (CCW) and the Government of Maharashtra State to support five new clubfoot clinics in and around Mumbai, India.
As part of a visit to kick off the Ponseti training for these clinics, Bridget Ryan Berman, co-founder and board member of miraclefeet and Chesca Colloredo-Mansfeld, managing Director of miraclefeet, spent the first day of their week-long India trip in Delhi visiting two clubfoot clinics established approximately two to three years ago.
By working with government hospitals, Dr. Santhosh George, Cure Clubfoot Worldwide’s regional manager for Asia, has created a sustainable model for clubfoot treatment in five Indian states. The government-funded hospitals provide doctors and basic casting and tenotomy supplies, while CCW provides training, braces and counselors.
It was clear in our visits today that the counselors are a critical role in ensuring success. The counselors check in with each patient, gently but firmly educating them on the Ponseti Method and reinforcing the importance of wearing the brace once casting is completed.
The counselors are very focused on the mothers. In the first clinic, a new mother arrived with a month-old baby, accompanied by the child’s grandmother. The women were illiterate and the counselor spent at least 30 minutes with them before being satisfied that the pair understood the treatment process and the importance of coming to the clinic each week.
