When Mitul and Aditi Patel lost their baby boy at nearly 38 weeks in 2021 when his heart stopped beating, they knew they had to make sense of it.
So, they set up the Aarush M. Patel Foundation. Aditi’s brother, Tejen Patel, a Carmel resident, serves as financial advisor for the foundation.
“It’s to honor his name in support of women’s health,” said Mitul, who lives in the Chicago suburb of Lake Zurich.
Tejen said two days before the stillbirth his sister had a medical appointment with no issues detected.
“It was a shock to the entire family,” Tejen said.
Tejen said his brother-in-law is an engineer by background, and he was troubled that technology couldn’t detect any issues.
“My nephew passed away from a true knot in the umbilical cord, so Mitul wanted to look for answers when there was nothing to detect anything like that at the OB office as far as imagery,” Tejen said.
The foundation’s mission is to raise funds to provide grants and fellowships to leading researchers and research institutions who pledge to make an impact on maternal fetal health.
Mitul said the research is for everything in the women’s health field, whether it’s surgical, improved imagining, miscarriage prevention or fertility treatment improvements.
In the meantime, the foundation is providing support with care baskets for those who have lost a baby.
“While the research and technology advancement is the foundation’s long-term goal, for short-term and immediate impact we provide care baskets to hospitals in the Chicago and Indy area, including IU Health North and Community Hospital North,” Tejen said. “The baskets have items that the mom needs during a traumatic time, such as lactation related items among other things. The messaging is, ‘You are not alone.’ Through the foundation, they are making it OK to talk about it. A lot of couples suffer in silence.”
Tejen and his sister are Ben Davis High School graduates. He moved to Carmel in 2021. Tejen’s wife, Vishruti, also volunteers for the organization.
“The foundation is near and dear to my heart,” Tejen said. “It’s never easy to lose any member of your family, let alone a member of the family you didn’t have a chance to meet.”
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