Dr. Nazmul Huda Ripon

Dr. Nazmul Huda Ripon deals with the really small ones. Neonates. He is an associate professor at CIMCH. MBBS, DCH, MCPS. The NICU is a weird place. Always kept super warm. Smells like spirit and baby formula. He walks between those clear plastic boxes. Incubators. Babies inside wearing tiny diapers. Most of them born too early. He just looks at the monitors. Checking the oxygen saturation. The numbers are always blinking. Some babies have jaundice. They lie under these bright blue lights with small black patches over their eyes. Sort of looks like they are sunbathing. He probably adjusts the temperature dial on the machine. Writes a few notes on the clipboard hanging at the end of the box. Nothing loud happens in here. Just the hum of the machines.

Parents are not allowed inside much. Infection risk. They just stand outside the glass doors looking in. Looking worried. He goes out to talk to them sometimes. Tells them the weight went up by fifty grams. Or the breathing is a bit better today. Just small numbers. Neonatal stuff is slow. Takes weeks sometimes before they can go home. He also sees older kids in the OPD. Regular fevers and stomach bugs. But the NICU is probably where he spends the most time. Teaching the junior doctors how to put an IV line in a foot. The veins are like thread. Takes a lot of practice. He finishes checking the last baby. Washes his hands up to the elbows. Dries them. Walks out.