By Ivy Akongo | Registered nurse
“I was unconscious by the time my baby was born. I had been in labour for a very long time and both baby and I were tired,” narrates 17 year old Milly. I gave birth from home with the help of a traditional birth attendant.
It was her first delivery. And as she narrated her story I realised that there was more that she had not told me. I wondered where the baby was?
Suddenly, in walked another lady with something that looked like a baby wrapped up in thin dirty sheets, she handed it to Milly, and that is when it dawned on me that this might be the baby. I immediately thought of the worst, my heart started to race and I asked to see the condition of the baby. It was all covered with the thick white coating. It needed immediate attention.
“I assured Milly that her and her baby will be fine even without an incubator,” says nurse Ivy a registered nurse. On examination, Milly and her baby were transferred to the main hospital where she stayed for two weeks before she was discharged.
Uganda still grapples with a high number of premature babies, straining the health budget and retarding development, experts have disclosed. Of the 1.5 million children born in Uganda every year, 210,000 are born too soon, before 37 weeks of pregnancy, according to Dr. Gelasius Mukasa, the chairman of the national newborn steering committee.
Experts say a normal baby should spend 40 weeks in the womb. This implies that 14% of Ugandan babies are born before their due date, which results into death of some, while others grow up with ill-health.
According to Dr. Jessica Nsumba, the assistant commissioner for child health in the Ministry of Health, Uganda is ranked 13th out of 184 countries with the highest number of babies born prematurely. Uganda also ranks 11th in the number of deaths due to complications from pre-term birth. Statistics from the health ministry show that 38% of the 39,000 deaths occurring in the babies’ first 28 days are due to premature births. This is because premature babies’ lungs are under-developed which causes breathing difficulties among other health problems. “We have not done impact assessments. But we know that even the economy is affected because on the one hand, premature babies are vulnerable to enormous illnesses that are expensive to treat and this consumes money,” said Dr. Mukasa. “On the other hand, the mothers’ productivity goes down because they have to look after the sickly babies. Even if the baby survives, many end up with disabilities like blindness and won’t be so productive to the economy,” he added.
Premature births are linked to multiple pregnancies and bleeding from the vagina (antenatal haemorrhage). Another common trigger of premature birth is cervical incompetence, a condition in which a pregnant woman’s cervix begins to widen and thin before her pregnancy has reached due term.
Mukasa, however, attributed the problem in Uganda mainly to malaria and other infections in pregnant women. He also cited pre-eclampsia, a condition in which hypertension arises in pregnancy. It is associated with significant amounts of protein in the urine. Pre-eclampsia affects the placenta, and it can affect the mother’s kidney, liver, and brain. “The high death rates among new born babies lead to high infant and child mortality rates,” said Mukasa. “Unless we do something to prevent deaths among babies, other health indicators won’t be brought down significantly.”
At the Karin health facilities we advice mothers to practice good hygiene and to complete the required four antenatal care visits to the health centre for success in detecting premature births.
Lucky for Milly, she was transferred to another hospital immediately. We call upon you to support with the rolling out of the Kangaroo mother care method, it is the most effective and cheap way to help premature babies to grow.
The health centre needs to initiate the practice of the Kangaroo Mother care at our health facilities, not all mothers can make it to the regional hospital which is more than 10km away. The kangaroo mother care would enable health staff with the skills and knowledge to manage premature babies.
We thank you for the support and urge you to support the equipment of the new maternity centre, and the kangaroo kits to help premature babies survive.
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