by Xinhua writers Hua Hongli, Lucas Liganga

DAR ES SALAAM, April 7 (Xinhua) -- "Please don't let them go," whispered a Tanzanian mother, barely holding back her tears, and as most of Zanzibar still slept, a Chinese doctor was already running toward the newborns clinging to breath.

It was just after dawn on a quiet Sunday when Nachumu Juma Hijja, 25, was rushed into Abdallah Mzee Hospital on Pemba Island. Her twin boys came into the world 12 weeks before term, each weighing only 1.5 kg. Their skin was paper-thin, their lungs barely ready for air.

Her husband, Saidi Vuai Makame, stood in stunned silence. "I couldn't speak. I didn't know if they would live," the 28-year-old farmer recalled. "But I remember the look in Chinese doctor Yu's eyes, calm and determined. She didn't waste a second."

Yu Chunlin, a pediatrician with the 34th Chinese medical team in Zanzibar, had dropped everything when she received the emergency call. Upon arrival, she quickly assessed the infants. One of them was slipping fast. His heart rate began to crash.

"There was no time to hesitate," Yu told Xinhua. "With a gestational age of just 28 weeks, every second is a choice between life and death."

With limited equipment and no neonatal intensive care unit, she worked with what was available, including a basic incubator and monitoring devices. Surrounded by local colleagues, she led the resuscitation, guiding each breath and each step.

After more than 20 tense minutes, the baby gasped and cried.

"It was the faintest sound," said Sanna Omar Mihambo, a pediatrician at the hospital. "But it was everything. It was life coming back."

Yu was soaked in sweat, but her hands were steady all along. "I've never seen such a calm rescue," Mihambo said. "She showed us what it means to fight for life with both skill and heart."

"We didn't have the words to thank her," said Makame, the father. "Only tears. And prayers."

Later, speaking by phone, Nachumu, the mother, said: "She gave my children back to me. Her team didn't just save lives; they gave us a future."

The rescue occurred as the world marked the 77th World Health Day, themed "Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures."

In that small hospital on Pemba Island, hope was not just a slogan. It was two heartbeats, flickering but holding on.

According to the World Health Organization, globally, nearly 300,000 women die each year from complications related to pregnancy or childbirth. More than 2 million babies die within their first month of life. One newborn dies every seven seconds, often from preventable causes.

"Saving every baby, every mother, that's not just medicine," Yu said. "It's responsibility. It's humanity."

Back in the ward, the twins now sleep under the soft glow of monitors. Their mother holds them gently, whispering prayers. Their father stands nearby, watching quietly, the lines on his face eased.

Outside, the sun rises slowly over Pemba, and inside, the world has made space for two more lives to grow. Enditem

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