At least 150,000 babies are born with congenital heart disease every year in India, and one-third of these babies die within their first year as they do not receive adequate treatment. Heretofore Maharashtra had no centre for the treatment of babies born with heart defects, but now parents can heave a sigh of relief. God forbidding, today if your baby is born with a heart defect, you need not travel to the south or to the north for treatment. you just have to go to Mulund to the Wockhardt Paediatric and Congenital Heart Centre for the best possible treatment for your baby at a surprisingly affordable rate.

"The time was ripe for such a centre," said Dr. Ravindra Karanjekar, Associate Vice President and Head, Wockhardt Hospitals. "Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) are the most common birth defects and yet are commonly overlooked. The need for the hour is not less than 200 centres around India but there are in actuality very few. Mumbai is a commercial capital of the country but lacked the facilities to treat such defects. This is where we step in and make the difference." The centre has been fully operational for the past three months. In those three months only 22 cases.

"That is a very low figure!" exclaimed Dr. Zakia Khan. "We though that it has to be because people do not know about the centre and that is why we felt it was necessary to reach out to the media and let the facts be known. Once people know that such facilities exist in the city, they will not give up hope or make that stupendous effort to travel to other states."

Even travelling does not mean relief. Dr. Snehal Kulkarni who has worked in the Chennai centres for several years, said, "I have personally known many cases where the babies have passed away in the course of the journey."

Their youngest patient, week-old Jannat Alam, was there with her family; her parents sitting there with gratitude words could not express. "Had the centre not been here in Mumbai we would have had to travel and that is so dangerous," said her fathers Shaikh Zahar Alam. "Our doctor told us that she would have to be operated on immediately. We were looking at options when we learned of the centre. Their ambulance came and picked us up and she had her first operation. The second one is yet to happen."

Dr. Swati Garekar was the one who operated on her. "Well it was not really an operation," she said. "We try to avoid surgery as far as possible. She had pulmonary atresia with ventricular defects, meaning the heart valve was extremely narrow and would have close off in a few days. With a method known as balloon dilation we were able to avoid surgery." The centre functions on subsidised rates and has a financial support scheme.

"Trust me," said Dr. Suresh Joshi, a renowned surgeon. "Nobody will walk away from the centre without treatment because of financial troubles. We are there to take care of it."

"This has been started as a service to society and will continue to be so," said Dr. Karanjekar.

The centre is fully equipped with the very latest in machines and technology, not to mention the very best of medical skills. The collective and varied experience of the core team is 125 years with Dr. Joshi himself having worked for over three decades in the field of surgery.

The Paediatric Heart Consultation Week is on from the 7th of February till the 14th at the Mulund centre. Book your date with your heart today!