After the most difficult start in life, Zedrick Madoginog recently left hospital in Sharjah after being born four months early and weighing only 500 grams.
His remarkable resilience is being celebrated as a minor miracle by doctors – and his parents – who did not expect the newborn to survive owing to his extremely premature birth.
Zedrick was resuscitated at birth, spent six weeks on a ventilator, battled infections and had laser surgery in his eyes. But now the youngster can look forward to a brighter future after going home with his parents, weighing a mighty 2.035kg.
When the baby was born, we prayed, because survival rates are poor at this stage of gestation – we didn’t know what the outcome would be
Dr Pooja Agrawal,
NMC Royal Hospital, Sharjah
"It will be a journey I will never forget,” said Zedrick's mother, Maricel Madoginog, 35, from the Philippines, who works for Dubai Ambulance Service, as does her husband Keith, 36.
“It brings tears to my eyes each time I recount the indefinite wait, unpredictable future, finding renewed strength, and valuing every passing moment that I saw my son breathe and fight to stay alive.
“It was a rollercoaster ride of a series of intubations and extubations.”
Dangerous infection
An intrauterine infection usually occurs when foetal membranes – the placenta or amniotic fluid that protects the unborn baby – become infected.
It can pose a serious risk to the mother and baby if left untreated and is a result of bacteria entering the tissue around the foetus.
Symptoms include fever, cervical discharge and can lead to an increased heart rate in both mother and baby.
It is usually treated with antibiotics but in serious cases can lead to brain damage or neurological problems in the mother.
Tests on the baby’s septic markers were significantly elevated and the first blood culture grew group B streptococcus bacteria, confirming the infection.
“Coincidentally, in this case, the exact gestation of the baby was uncertain due to the irregularity of the mother's menstrual cycle, making it difficult to determine the exact gestational age,” said Dr Mais Ibrahim, a specialist obstetrician and gynaecologist at the hospital.
“Based on the baby's support and clinical course requirements, it aligns with that of a 23-week-old.
"We had the option of transferring the baby to a local foundation, but thankfully our neonatologist accepted him.
“We wanted to give the baby a chance with us.
“The baby’s journey here has been a team effort and I have been following his progress very closely.
“The baby’s parents are very kind and lovely people. They deserve every happiness that has come their way.”
When Zedrick was born, his weight was comparable to a loaf of bread, or a hardback book.
Brought back to life
The baby was born without a heart rate and was not breathing, with an intact amniotic bag adding to the complexity of the situation.
The bag was punctured so medics could begin resuscitation attempts on the boy, before administering cardiac medication to kick-start his tiny heart into life.
Doctors then monitored any signs of cerebral palsy, a common condition in newborns starved of oxygen at birth.
Thankfully, Zedrick is showing promising signs that he will grow into a healthy baby, with his past three neurosonograms revealing no abnormalities, raising hopes for a normal growth and development trajectory.
“Due to his extreme prematurity and low weight, Zedrick relied on a ventilator for a gruelling six weeks,” said Dr Pooja Agrawal, a specialist neonatologist at the hospital.
“Throughout this challenging period, he faced infections and anaemia head-on, yet his tiny body fought back with extraordinary resilience.”
As his condition gradually improved, Zedrick underwent a delicate laser procedure on his eyes, undertaken to safeguard his sight.
The more premature the baby is, the lower the chances of survival, with very few infants born at 22 to 23 weeks of pregnancy surviving.
"When the baby was born, we prayed, because survival rates are poor at this stage of gestation – we didn’t know what the outcome would be,” Dr Agrawal said.
“Generally, babies in this condition are lost and we were praying that this baby would get better.
“Despite the ambiguity of the exact gestational age, he was the lowest weight baby ever discharged from our NMC Royal Hospital in Sharjah.
“It was a heartfelt moment of joy for all the team members who were there from the moment he was born.
“Zedrick has made his parents happy and given us hope too."
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
