Behind a Smile with Dr. Shauntel Ambrose

Balancing Passion and Profession in Neonatal Care with Dr. Takoordeen

• Shauntel Ambrose

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Surviving a rare tumour at just six months old and allowing that experience to fuel a lifelong commitment to saving lives is the remarkable journey of Dr. Raksha Takoordeen, our inspiring guest in this episode of "Behind a Smile." From her work in neonatal health to establishing one of the few private human breast milk banks, Dr. Takoordeen's story is nothing short of extraordinary. Join us as we uncover her path from overcoming personal health challenges to becoming a beacon of hope for countless newborns and their families.

Her motivation is deeply intertwined with the influence of her 12-year-old son and her unyielding passion for helping children thrive. She opens up about her outreach efforts at children's homes and the profound joy she derives from witnessing her patients grow and flourish. This episode sheds light on the significance of standing one's ground as a female leader in healthcare. 

She shares invaluable advice for aspiring medical and dental students, emphasizing the importance of hard work, diverse experiences, and staying true to one's passion. We also delve into the art of balancing professional and personal life, offering strategies for self-care crucial for healthcare practitioners. This candid conversation not only honors Dr. Takoordeen's contributions but also celebrates the collective wisdom shared on our platform, making it a must-listen for anyone committed to making a difference in healthcare.

Dr Shauntel Ambrose:

Hello and welcome to Behind a Smile. I am Dr Chantl Ambrose and I am a dentist. I host a healthcare business podcast where I interview healthcare practitioners around the world, sharing tips on how to improve your healthcare practice, innovate and grow while living your best life. We share products and information from healthcare partners that can help you in your practice journey, be it a startup, a family-based business or a multidisciplinary healthcare team. Most of the information provided here is based on personal experience and opinions. Of the information provided here is based on personal experience and opinions, so please supplement what you learn here with approved research, studies and professional advice. Thank you to everyone who has subscribed and I invite you to join our community. If you haven't, we would love to hear from you. If you would like to be on the show, drop me a mail at behindasmile2 at gmailcom. Let's make it happen together. Welcome everyone.

Dr Shauntel Ambrose:

It's Chantel and I have a very amazing guest on today. Listen, we are doing the Women's Special and I've had some of the most iconic women on. I'm feeling very blessed, so it's one of those days where I have yet another iconic woman in healthcare on as a guest for you to listen to, to get some great tips from. I want to share with you that we start our morning and this lady has already been with a number of different patients. She's looking perfect with her perfect red lip. You won't even know that she's had that much of pressure. And here she is in our studio. So welcome, dr Raksha Thakurdeen.

Dr Takoordeen:

Thank you so much, Chantal. It's such a pleasure to be with you and thank you so much for this opportunity to share my journey. I hope I can be as inspirational as I feel, but let's see.

Dr Shauntel Ambrose:

Listen, I'm going to just share your bio with our listeners and I'm going to say it's a humbling bio, guys, it's a humbling bio. So Dr Thakurdeen grew up in a small town of Ladysmith and was ill in her infancy and she knew. She knew that she wanted to be a doctor and so her journey began in 1997. And she finished her degree in medicine and surgery in 2002. Degree in medicine and surgery in 2002. Then, you know, after internship and community service, you knew that you wanted to specialize in pediatrics and in 2005 to 2009, you qualified as a pediatrician and you're now practicing Peter Merritt's work and you have developed a passion for newborn health.

Dr Shauntel Ambrose:

Now, not just newborn health, guys. This is like a micro-speciality. There are so few people that do what Dr Thakurdin does. So one of her biggest interests are actually looking at micro-crims and she's actually one of the very few people that have been involved in managing the smallest surviving baby at 425 grams, which is an accolade in itself, goodness. And you're based in MediClinic. You are a stakeholder for the new Mother and Child Center of Excellence at the Midlands Specialist Private Hospital and if you've ever listened to my shows and you know that I'm in PEDS, you know that I am absolutely passionate about breastfeeding and how people go about doing this journey, and I understand that sometimes it doesn't come easy, so I really appreciate someone going out of their way to actually put in place one of the first private human breast milk banks. Yes, dr Takudin, welcome, and can you tell us a little bit about this journey of yours?

Dr Takoordeen:

So my journey actually began, I think, at the age of six months. So I was born in Ladysmith and at the age of six months I fell very ill. I had a very rare tumor on my neck and it grew to the point where it was obstructing my breathing passage, my trachea, and it was a very, very urgent decision by the GP at that time to transfer me to Northdale Hospital here in Marysburg. And I think that's where my destiny began, and I feel so blessed that I am one of, probably one of the few people that actually have identified their purpose in life, because we all here on this earth, most of us, don't realize why, what we're meant to do. But I know, I know this is where I was meant to be and this is what I was meant to do. So I was in Nortale Hospital for about six months. I was very, very ill and because this tumor was so rare, the doctors at the time didn't know what to do with it, how to treat it. So I had an Irish professor come in and surgically remove this tumor, and it had to be done repeatedly because it just came back and back and again and again I was ventilated. I was in the ICU for over 40 days and there was a point where they thought I didn't make it or I wouldn't make it. But I them wrong and I was the only survivor from their ventilator in Nortel Hospital, to the point where they named it after me. And after six months so this is now 1979, I made it out and I was discharged and throughout my childhood my parents would always tell me the story this is what happened to you when you were little and this is what they did and it was amazing and the doctors and the nurses were exceptional and they were so supportive to me, to my family and ever since I can remember I wanted to be a doctor and I wanted to help and I wanted to help ailing people at the time. I didn't actually decide then that I wanted to be a pediatrician, but I just knew I wanted to be a doctor and I wanted to help people. So that's all I remember ever wanting to be. There was never a second choice.

Dr Takoordeen:

I studied really hard in Ladysmith. It was hard to get out but I did and there began my medical. I was in medical school from 1997 until 2002. And I did my internship in Tigerburg Hospital in Cape Town. What an amazing experience, an amazing hospital, and that's where I met the pediatricians that I wanted to be like. And then I knew as well that I wanted to do neonatal health and I wanted to specialize in neonatal health. Unfortunately, I didn't get to specialize, so I'm just a pediatrician. I would have loved to be a neonatologist, but I continued in the same, trying to look after little babies.

Dr Takoordeen:

I did my community service and I then started in a medical officer position at Grey's Hospital, where I then applied into the registrar program and thankfully, during our registrar program we did a lot of neonatal work. We lived literally in the neonatal ICUs between all the hospitals in Durban and also I spent time at Grey's and Edendale Hospital and after marrying I came back to Peter Maritzburg, where it all began years and years ago, and I think I was meant to be here in Peter Maritzburg, in this little city and in the space that I am in right now. So when I was, you know, during my registrar training, unfortunately, because the resources were so poor in our neonatal ICUs, we were only able to save or be active with babies over a kg, and there were so many babies under a kg that needed assistance, but the resources were so limited that we couldn't offer them any assistance. Some survived, but many didn't, and that was heartbreaking for me, because if you've ever seen a premature baby, you will know that they are the littlest fighters you will ever meet. The strength that they have and the strength to actually survive, to make it to live, is phenomenal, and I couldn't see these babies die.

Dr Takoordeen:

So I came into private practice after I qualified as a pediatrician, which was 2009,. Like you said, and I started private practice in 2010. And I started looking after these little babies. And then I realized a premature baby, yes, is a premature baby, but a micro-prem is a baby that's born less than 800 grams, and a micro-prem is not the same as just a prem baby. And now we are saving babies even less than 600 grams and less than 500 grams, and these are not the same.

Dr Takoordeen:

So I researched and I met with experts in the neonatology, to the point that I even went to Cape Town. I spent some time in a neonatal unit there that actually specializes in small, sick babies, and I approached Midlands Specialist Private Hospital with my dream and with my passion, and they had known me from 2010 and they knew how passionate I was about these little babies and we. So the journey to developing this mother and child center of Excellence started years ago, where I did a feasibility study to apply for new or more beds and we then started building this 12-bedded unit, and part of this 12-bedded unit is now incorporating this human breast milk bank, is now incorporating this human breast milk bank because I also saw the need for breast milk for babies whose mothers couldn't supply breast milk and we found that there were more and more infections when we were using formula, and so this project began, and thank you to Midlands, I have to put that on record. They supported me and they assisted me in getting all the protocols in place and literally just getting through the red tape, because you have no idea how much red tape there is in putting something like this together.

Dr Takoordeen:

The Human Breast milk bank and human breast milk forms part of the tissue act and in order to be able to use human tissue, there's so many protocols that are involved. So we got through that and we applied through the Department of Health and actually yesterday we were awarded a certificate to now commission this breast milk bank, so it's going to be now in use. We are cutting that ribbon tomorrow morning and I will be there cutting the ribbon to get this breast milk bank started for our little babies. I am so excited because this is something that I've worked for for the last probably three to five years, and to see it now, you know, in a reality, it's just amazing for me. So thank you for this interview, because it just really comes at such a time where you know we are really really breaking barriers in Peter Merritt's book, and I'm so excited.

Dr Shauntel Ambrose:

I don't think that you're just breaking barriers in Peter Merritt's book. I think you're breaking barriers in Peds and beyond. I think that it is something that really shows your tenacity, because a lot of people have their dreams and a lot of people you're quite right don't actually know where their compass wants to be. You know, I love the way you said I'm one of the very few people who knew at a very young age that I was supposed to be doing this. You are, you know you're living. You are the dream. You're living what you wanted to be, and I think that anyone who stays true to their level of what lights them up, you know their journey is as profound as yours.

Dr Shauntel Ambrose:

I'm pretty sure that tomorrow, when you're cutting that ribbon, not many of us would have known the fight that you've had to go through for it, and I know that it comes with challenges. Now tell us what keeps you going. What keeps you going? Because that is what makes every single person that I've been lucky enough to have on for this month has shared with us something that really you know. It's so profound how people keep on going and know that it's a bigger fight than just their own. So what keeps you going, what makes you go through all of those challenges and keeps you positive?

Dr Takoordeen:

So there's two loves of my life that I can say ground me and keep me going. Number one my son. I think I'm probably the luckiest person in the world to be the mom to this little boy. I say little, he's 12 years old and he's already taller than me, but he is the most amazing human. He is the most amazing human and he has taught me what I don't think I could have ever learned from a book. He grounds me, he keeps me centered and he doesn't know that I probably need him more than he needs me. He is just my gift and my everything.

Dr Takoordeen:

And the second thing is my work. So I feel the most gratitude when I think about the patients that I've seen and how they've contributed to my life and I've also made differences in their lives. I think and it's the reward, it's the reward of a baby that was born at 425 grams, running into my office saying this is my doctor. You know the reward of meeting a five-year-old in the mall that comes running to me and saying Doctor, doctor, look I'm here and it's so nice to see you. All my patients are my babies and I have moms coming in saying your baby is just not treating me well today and I love that. I love that because they know how passionate I am about my babies. So it's my work and my boy that keeps me sane and keeps me grounded. It is sometimes it can get quite challenging, quite stressful, but I always look back to the rewards that I've seen from what I do and I feel like I feel like this is, this is me. This is me. I do love to travel, though. So when I do get a break, my son and I do a lot of traveling and that just also opens your mind view about the world and about what's going on out there and it also sort of centers you and it makes you again appreciate what you have and also appreciate what you do and it just reinforces what you want to do. So I think I'm very lucky. I sound like I have the perfect life. It's not perfect. It's very challenging, like everyone else. There are so many things that happen on a day-to-day basis, as you were aware this morning, that you know things don't go always as planned. But I love it. I love the challenge, I love the adrenaline rush and I love making a difference.

Dr Takoordeen:

I do a lot of outreach as well. Um, chantal, that also is very, very fulfilling for me. Um, so I do a lot of work with the children's home, the Joseph Baines children's home. I see the children there whenever they're ill, I do their immunizations, I, you know, buy uniforms when they need to, groceries when they need it, and it's just about giving. Giving and giving is more rewarding than receiving, I think, and it's fulfilling as well. So there's a lot that I do, that I'm involved in. That, you know, is a lot of my time that I use. So I don't actually have a hobby, which is quite boring, but there's no time. I find that there's no time, but I just, I love what I do. So I find that even working for me just is as fulfilling as painting, I suppose.

Dr Shauntel Ambrose:

Yeah, you know, listen, I think that hearing you speak is the sense of you're doing your love job, so it's almost your hobby to work. In many ways your balance actually comes from all of the people that you are supporting in all these tiny little ways. You know, it's a very humbling experience when you come across a person like yourself that's so knowledgeable. It's not an easy fate to be a stakeholder a female stakeholder in bigger organizations. I think when I get to speak to a lot of women on boards you know they talk about, it's hard to be seen when it's still very much a male-dominated sort of world in many ways, and sometimes in healthcare, we are very lucky in that. You know, we do get balanced perspectives.

Dr Shauntel Ambrose:

But there are days where often you have to almost sort of roll with the punches. You know you do have to remind yourself that you are as important as every other person on that board and you should be given the same amount of reverence. So do you have any of those moments where you're thinking to yourself you have to work harder as a female? Or do you feel that? You know, listen, you've come in with such an educated perspective, you have such a knowledgeable base and you have such a gracious heart that the reverence is just by virtue of your presence perspective. You have such a knowledgeable base and you have such a gracious heart that you know the reverence is just by virtue of your presence and you don't have to really fight for it no, so you're absolutely right.

Dr Takoordeen:

As females, unfortunately, we are constantly having to prove ourselves on a daily basis as opposed to our male colleagues and our male counterparts, because we're really on the same level. Sometimes we may be a bit better, but we're constantly having to prove ourselves by virtue of being female, and I have the same problems. You know I have males also not giving me as much respect as they do their male colleagues. I have reached a point, though, where I think they may all be afraid of me because I don't keep quiet. I stand up for what I believe in, and I stand up as an advocate of myself and as an advocate of the babies.

Dr Takoordeen:

If something is not right, I will tell you, and I think in the hospitals that I work in mostly and that's MediClinic Hospital, which I'm based at, midland Specialist Private Hospital hospital that I do a lot of my work at and that I am in the process of getting rooms at as well.

Dr Takoordeen:

So, between the two hospitals, I think they know me very well now. So, unfortunately for them, when Dr Thakurdeen speaks, and if Dr Thakurdeen raises her voice, you have to listen, and they understand now that I am well-educated, I am not just a pretty face that I know what I'm doing and that I am passionate about what I'm doing and that if you work with me, we can both do it well together instead of working against me. But you are absolutely right. As females it's not easy, and it took a long time for me to be respected by my male colleagues as a force to be reckoned with and they do. Now I don't get challenged as much as I used to, but at the beginning it was hard. It was really difficult, and there were many, many days where I would sit in a corner and cry because of the unfairness of it all. But I'm hoping that I've now risen above that and I think I am very well respected.

Dr Shauntel Ambrose:

You know, I agree, think twice about that. I think you are tremendously well respected and revered. I think that you mustn't forget that you're very revered and I don't think that people take it for granted any longer that we're actually quite lucky to have people like you in the community, because you get a lot of people that are knowledgeable and we're just lucky enough every once in a while that you meet somebody that's knowledgeable and passionate, and you know, I think that that is where leadership lies and it's definitely. You know, your leadership doesn't necessarily have to be rude in order to be heard, and I completely I gel with that. You'll hear on my podcast I often will recommend anyone that's in leadership roles to stand their ground, but you don't need to actually make a noise. You know reverence comes from from the fact that you will eventually get there.

Dr Shauntel Ambrose:

But everyone goes through challenges. You know I've spoken to some massive guys, males, that they themselves are on this hierarchy and they all they also being sort of sidestepped and not really acknowledged and not really they don't get to where they need to go, and you know. So they have the similar fight. But I find that because it's Women's Month, it's necessary to really celebrate our wins and to say it out loud because it's, it is a win. It's a win where, you know, I I'm in an industry where they never allowed females to do dentistry, and remember it's, it's, it's quite a, it's quite a, let's just call it.

Dr Shauntel Ambrose:

You need to be a little bit of a stronger individual. You're not going to. It's a technical job. We still have things that look like hammers that we're using. So you know why would a female do that? You know, and it's when I remember being in undergrad and you know there were fewer females and now they're predominantly in classes. It's really a win. It's a win that we have a little bit of a balance now in society, and I do welcome any wins that we've worked hard to establish.

Dr Takoordeen:

Now it asked why would a female do this? I always say why not? Yes, tell me why not and we can discuss it. So if you don't have a proper argument, then you know, I think sit down.

Dr Shauntel Ambrose:

I think that's what we need, is that we base it on scientific evidence and we we're just as good as anyone else in the field. We don't have to prove ourselves each and every time, and I think that we're getting towards that place where the recognition comes without having to keep on proving so. So, and it's people like you that are doing it in the medical fraternity.

Dr Takoordeen:

I think that to be female, we are actually at such an advantage because being female and being a mother in whatever capacity, that maternal instinct, the emotional depth that we can go down to, is something unique to us. And as a female, I find it so much easier to be able to relate with my patients, relate to my mothers, to be able to experience what they are experiencing, because I've gone through it myself, to be able to relate to the mom that's battling to breastfeed and because I breastfed and I battled at the beginning and I needed help until I was able to do it confidently. And there's so much more that we can bring to this medical fraternity if we are respected and if we are allowed to. But I think we are really really at such an advantage. We feel we are empathetic, we love at a level that I don't think and I'm and I'm not sexist but I don't think a man can ever love at.

Dr Takoordeen:

And I always tell that the females that I work with, the nurses, the specialists, my friends and I always say wake every morning, put your red lipstick on, put your heels on, chin up and walk into the world like you own it, because you are amazing and everything that you do, if you do with love, kindness and grace, you will always come up on top. And that's that's the words that I live by every morning. When I get out of bed at 4 45 in the morning, 4 15 on a Tuesday because my son has tennis at 6 am. But every morning when my, when I put my feet down, I am grateful for being able to get out of bed and to do what I do, and I always say, please, please, please, give me the courage to go through this day with love, kindness and grace, always.

Dr Shauntel Ambrose:

Yeah, I know, listen, we appreciate you because you're even showing us these. You know I call them tips, I really do, because you often look at somebody and you think how are they doing it? How are they doing it? How are they doing it? How are they getting up at 4.45 in the morning running more than one practice, still being a mother, still being the everything to everyone and still able to give to every patient their very best? And I do think it comes down to almost a success formula.

Dr Shauntel Ambrose:

And you've given us many little tips of what we can incorporate into our daily lives in order to actually get a little bit more out of what we're intending to get out of our days. A lot of us don't live with intention and I think it's really refreshing to hear somebody share that I'm living with intention. I know that there's going to be some ups and downs in the day today, but I'm waking up and the very first thing my intention is for the day is that I'm going to move forward and it's going to be good. I'm going to talk about something that's a little bit, I think. What if you're in groups of mothers, you find that there's almost a bias against women who don't breastfeed. And if you're in a group and if you're just having a conversation and let's take our practice caps off and you're just in a mother's group and if you're ever asked, are you breastfeeding? And you say no, there is almost this feeling of you're not doing the best for your child and there's a judgment. But a lot of people don't talk about how difficult it is to actually breastfeed sometimes and not everyone gets the same day every day and not everyone gets the opportunity that other people do and it's different for every single person and we're all trying our best.

Dr Shauntel Ambrose:

So I love that. You, you know when you're going through and you're saying you know, listen, tomorrow I'm cutting a ribbon. Tomorrow you're not just cutting a ribbon, you're establishing a huge, a huge opportunity to women who fall in the category of not being able to meet that requirement. And a lot of us dream I mean, I'm a very traditionalist mother. You know you dream in your head of what that's going to be like for your children and you may not be able to fulfill that for yourself and here you are being able to offer people that you know. I think that's. It's phenomenal, it really is phenomenal. Super well done.

Dr Takoordeen:

Thank you so much.

Dr Shauntel Ambrose:

If you had to do anything differently in your life. What would it be?

Dr Takoordeen:

Wow, good question. So, like I said to you before, I've always wanted to specialize in neonatology. So I'm a pediatrician, but I would have loved to be a subspecialist in neonatology. But you know, life happened and I got married and we had to move to Peter Maritzburg for financial reasons, so I couldn't do that. Uh, perhaps in the future.

Dr Takoordeen:

So I'm not putting that, putting it down as an absolute no just yet. But it's a lot of studying and at my age, I don't know, life is so busy as it is. You know, to do studying for another two to three years sounds a little daunting, but I'm not completely discounting it just yet. So if I had to change something, I would have done that. But having said that, I don't feel like I've lost out, or I don't feel like you know it. It you know, because I'm not a neonatologist, I'm not doing the best that I can do and I'm not fulfilling my purpose. I think that it's the way it's meant to be and this is it. So it's just the one thing that I would have changed through my life. But other than that, like I said, I feel like I am exactly where I need to be right now.

Dr Shauntel Ambrose:

I have been lucky enough that I've been doing a few lectures for the undergrads for a while now and when I get to speak to medical and dental students it's almost like a different playground compared to what I was at when I was an undergraduate and I think that we have so much more mentorship than we used to have. And it's really a positive way, because now when you speak to somebody and they're in their third and their fourth year, they really have almost a very well-balanced perspective for the most part of where they want to go in medicine and where they want to go in healthcare. Really, what type of advice would you have to these students, to these medical and dental students or these students in healthcare? Where do you see the future of healthcare and what advice would you have for them?

Dr Takoordeen:

Definitely. Study hard, because it's difficult to get through, and don't rush yourself to make decisions right now about where you want to be in five years or 10 years. The medical fraternity is so diverse. There's so much that you can do now, as opposed to when we qualified in the early 2000s. So experience it, go through the process, get your degree, do your internship, do your internship, do your community service, do as much as you can. Go on, call, you know, be there, spend the 24 hours, the 36 hours that we had to do, and just learn, keep on learning. And then you get to decide where your passion is, where your love is, and then you get to decide where your passion is, where your love is. And you know there's no timeline that you need to follow absolutely to the letter. You know, decide what you want to do when the time is right, but experience it all. The experience that we have in our career, I think, is phenomenal. We get to see so much. We get to see so much, we get to do so much, we get to meet so many people and we get to make such an enormous difference that you know I'm biased, but I think other careers maybe, you know, you don't get to do as much I think other careers maybe, you know you don't get to do as much, but put your head down, study hard and experience as much as you can possibly experience.

Dr Takoordeen:

In our country we don't know where healthcare is going. With the NHI bill coming in, it's quite uncertain, but you know, don't let it deter you from achieving your passion, from going for your goals. Go for your goals and I would say, you know, just put your head down and get it done and you will see how fulfilling it is in our career. If I could get everybody to do medicine, I would, but it's also hard work. It's a lot of hard work. It's a lot of time that you have to spend and it's a very emotional career as well. I'm sure you've also experienced that. So if you're strong enough and if this is really what you want to do, don't do it for the money. There's not much. Do it because you want to, because you are passionate to make a difference and to help, because really, at the end of the day, that's what we do. We help as much as we can and that's what I would say.

Dr Shauntel Ambrose:

Thank you.

Dr Shauntel Ambrose:

I think you've ended off on as iconic a note as you started.

Dr Shauntel Ambrose:

I want to thank you for being part of our show and part of the Women's Special, and I encourage everyone to have a look and to subscribe and to follow us, because, you know, these are the tips that sometimes you wish that you knew somewhere along the line in your career, and we're, bit by bit, we're day by day and um, guest by guest, we're trying to really get to the nitty-gritty of of the house and we're trying to hook you up with the people that know the house from their personal experience. So congratulations, well done, thank you for taking the time and we have great reverence for you. You're not just a mother, and an amazing mother that to your own boy but I think you're an amazing mom and just somebody that you can really sort of identify with as a family, and I think that it's one of the main roles that you really fulfill extremely well. So very well done and thank you. I think that many of our listeners would go away knowing a little bit more of how to do life better from you. So well done.

Dr Takoordeen:

Thank you, and thank you so much for this opportunity and I really admire your work as well and I think you and I we met quite a few years ago and I've always also been a fan, so I'm so glad that we could meet on this platform and share. And thank you so much for the opportunity to inspire.

Dr Shauntel Ambrose:

Have you ever wished you could be rubbing shoulders with the best just to get through your worst? Never get the promotion and exceed the requirements. Join us to hear about strategies to build your brand. Diversify your business, pursue your career passions with job crafting and self-care for healthcare practitioners. Hear about great products that can help you to get to where you always wanted to be. So remember you are heard and you are seen, and on this platform you are absolutely invited. Let's make it happen together.