Published on 7 November 2025

A while ago, the nurse practitioner at our clinic asked me to see a young mother and her newborn baby.

The mother suspected that her baby might have Down syndrome.

On examination, the baby did have features suggestive of the condition, and we arranged for genetic testing.

Two months later, the results confirmed Down syndrome. The parents — a restaurant worker and a local school teacher — came to see me together. I started by asking how they felt about the diagnosis and what they knew about Down syndrome. They had seen children with the condition in the community but knew little beyond that. The mother’s main concern was whether future pregnancies might carry the same risk. I counselled them about developmental delays, available resources, and support networks, including online information.

In the course of our conversation, I learned that the baby was now in the care of the grandmother in the rural Eastern Cape. Both parents are working, and caring for a newborn with special needs had become very difficult. The grandmother, who is herself receiving treatment at a regional hospital 200 km away, had taken on the responsibility.

We discussed applying for both a childcare and a care dependency grant and arranged for genetic counselling. A few weeks later, the mother returned to ask for a letter to support her grant application.

Over the years, I’ve often seen grandmothers in rural areas take on the care of their grandchildren — especially when young parents must work far from home. Caring for a small baby at an older age is a tremendous act of love and commitment.

Sometimes I think we should build a statue to honour these grandmothers — the quiet heroes who hold so many families together.