Perinatal education for 1400 mothers in Albania

Our midwife Esmeralda goes regularly to the wards of the Queen Geraldina maternity hospital to support mothers in starting to breastfeed. One of the patients she helped this week was a mother with her baby in the NICU.

"The most beautiful moment today was helping a mother whose second born had been in the intensive care unit for three days. I checked her breast and found that she had colostrum. The mother told me that for health reasons, she had not put the baby to the breast, neither had she pumped. 

Together we expressed the first drops of colostrum. I advised her to pump several times a day. I explained to her the importance of having colostrum for the baby and that it lasts a maximum of 7 days before her milk will come in.

She felt happy because even with her first child she had not been able to feed the baby with colostrum. She was ready to collect the colostrum and take it to her baby in Intensive Care."

Breast milk, and colostrum in particular, is life-saving to all babies, and especially to babies in a delicate medical situation. This is why we continue to promote it both to staff through trainings and advocacy work, as well as by the example of our midwife counseling each and every mother.

We plan in 2025 to organize the midwives in training to shadow Esmeralda and learn how to teach and counsel new mothers in their first steps of breastfeeding.

Thank you so much for continuing to give to the projects of the Foundation to help mothers, babies, and medical staff experience happier, healthier births.

Through the generous giving of the community here and abroad, our main accomplishments in 2024 have been: 

Equipment

• 11 BPO2 monitors for the NICU at SUOGJ MB Geraldina
• 3 large air conditioners for the birthing wing at SUOGJ MB Geraldina
• 10 computers for the administration at SUOGJ MB Geraldina
• A Medela hospital quality breast pump and parts, and a sterilizer and cart for SUOGJ Koco Gliozheni.    
• At both Koco Gliozheni and Mbreteresha Geraldina, we have continued to provide about 10 Boxes of Hope a month for the most vulnerable mothers who give birth. 

Education

• We completed a Training for Trainers for Baby Friendly Hospitals at SUOGJ MB Geraldina
• We presented 3 training sessions on managing stress and communication challenges for the NICU staff at SUOGj MB Geraldina. 
• At least 100 moms counseled in their first steps of breastfeeding at SUOGJ MB Geraldina

Advocacy

• This year we focused our effort in advocacy on support for breastfeeding, and especially lobbying for supports both in the hospital and in home 
• We put on a Gala fundraiser in June to highlight the need for support for the maternity hospitals, and in particular for Breastfeeding and for critical care for the NICUs in both hospitals.

Community Work through Social Businesses

• Through MamiCare, just this year we have supported close to 200 families with prenatal classes, home visits, and high quality breast pumps 
• Operating a small shop serving the needs of staff and patients at Mbreteresha Geraldina, open from early morning to late evening every day of the week

Links:

• Foundation Website
• Foundation Instagram