In 2013, my medical world was measured in heartbeats and oxygen levels. As a pediatrician in the high-pressure environment of the ICU and NICU here in Jalgaon, I was trained to do one thing: save lives. I was taught to “fix” the body and “cure” the acute illness.

But as I watched our “tiny graduates”—the premature babies who fought so hard to survive—leave the NICU, I realized a second journey was beginning. Medical literature told us these brave little ones had a higher chance of facing developmental challenges later on, yet there was a silent gap in their care. Once the acute crisis was over, the developmental monitoring they desperately needed was often missing. We weren’t just failing to support children with existing disabilities; we were missing the chance for early detection and intervention for those at risk.