Project Report
| Oct 4, 2024
"....this gave me hope"
By Adam Hewitt-Smith | Trustee, Born on the Edge
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“Other babies even smaller than mine were making it home alive.
And this gave me hope.”
We are SO privileged to be able to share this beautiful story of a beautiful mama and her beautiful baby.
“My name is Fauzia and I am 18 years old. I was 6 months pregnant when I started having labour pains at midnight. I went to a nearby clinic and told them I was draining water and I was not feeling well. They put a drip of water on me and told me I can go back home. At 5am, the labour pain intensified and I delivered there at home as we were planning to move to the main hospital. My husband said we should bring the baby to the main hospital to get help. When we arrived at the neonatal unit, we got very good care. This was my first baby and I never saw one this small before! She was less than 1kg and I was so afraid, wondering how I was going to care for her. I got comfort in knowing that I was not alone. Other babies even smaller than mine were making it home alive. And this gave me hope.
At first my husband was afraid and suggested we should just leave the baby and go, he thought baby would not survive. I stood firm and told him I was going to stay and take care of my child. In the end we both stayed and took care of the baby. I have learned to take good care of my baby while in the unit, to always keep clean when caring for them, not to allow just anyone to touch the baby to avoid infections. I learn through teachings on the ward and by attending the preterm support group. The support group helped me get through the challenges of having a small baby, even if I am getting discharged today, I will attend the group before heading home.
I am so grateful for the team at the neonatal unit, they took such good care of us. They taught me a lot of things and gave me so much hope. I am going to continue putting my baby in kangaroo even at home and doing everything I learnt while in the unit.”
In our last report we shared our work training healthcare workers in the community to keep babies who are born too soon warm by teaching mothers and fathers how to use kangaroo mother care. This story is a wonderful example of the impact our newborn care trainers are having every day. Every month we support the neonatal unit to care for up to 350 sick and small babies like Fauzia’s - but we can’t do it without YOU!
Please do get in touch with us if you would like to help us give life and hope to other babies and their families.
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Jun 6, 2024
Immediate Kangaroo Care
By Adam Hewitt Smith | Trustee, Born on the Edge
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Immediate kangaroo care - placing a preterm baby skin-to-skin on the chest of their mother or caregiver as soon as they are born - not only keeps the family at the centre of a babies care, but can significantly reduce mortality.
Our training team will be providing training to >400 healthcare workers in 22 health centres across eastern Uganda to help them safely implement kangaroo at birth before transferring preterm babies to our neonatal unit at Mbale Regional Referral Hospital.
This project is possible through the dedicated work of our neonatal trainers who not only spend their time providing life saving care for the smallest and sickest babies in eastern Uganda but they also continuously look for resources to support improvement of care across the region. Derrick is one of our neonatal clinical officers who has now looked after thousands of tiny babies and provided training and mentoring support to hundreds of healthcare workers and students. With extra support from the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, he is exploring the acceptability of immediate Kangaroo Mother Care. Moses, another of our clinical trainers, is providing the hands on training sessions to go alongside.
“I have conducted a number of training sessions since the training courses were launched and I have found so much excitement in sharing and passing this knowledge and these skills. This is something I am passionate about.” - Dr Moses Olupot
Please do get in touch with us if you would like to help us expand support our training. Our clinical training team is dependent on your support to continue their work.
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Feb 6, 2024
We are humbled and grateful
By Kathy Burgoine | Neonatal Lead, Trustee
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Back in 2014, we struggled to care with newborn babies born weighing less than 1500g. In fact hardly any of our little ones survived.
Now, thanks to the unfaltering determination and dedication of our local neonatal team, the ongoing support of our generous donors and the magic of the lifesaving CPAP machines, discharging babies who were born as early as 27 weeks and as small as 700g is NO longer an exception to the rule. The majority of these little friends not only survive, but go home thriving. Read on for Anna’s epic but beautiful story of her twin girls, Apio and Adongo.
“I have really danced to the tune these past two months. It started at 3.45pm on the 15th October when I had a breech delivery of my two tiny baby girls. They weighed 720g and 925g. Immediately after I delivered them, one was put on oxygen and the other on CPAP (a machine to support her breathing). They transferred my babies immediately in a transport trolley to the neonatal unit. When we reached there, they were treated and both put on a bigger CPAP machine and then they tied them to our chests to give warmth.
Life in the neonatal unit was very strange with so many tiny babies like mine, so very hot and congested with other mamas and their babies. I felt so desperate for my angels as they struggle to breathe on the machines. As soon as I removed them from kangaroo they got cold quickly and they often forgot to breathe and changed so easily to a blue colour. One even needed a blood transfusion.
There’s an African proverb that says, “The water pot breaks at the doorstep.” Just as I began to relax Adongo started to vomit a green colour, her stomach swelled, she developed difficulty in breathing and again she began stopping to breathe. This time, even when I gently rubbed her it wasn’t enough, and every now and then she had to be bagged (helped to breathe) by the team to bring her back.
I was loosing hope, but slowly by the grace of God, she began to pick up and we even got off CPAP! She started to cup and spoon feed and finally we were able to come off of oxygen! We are now just over two months old and gaining weight seriously. They both have fat cheeks and weigh 1650g and 1540g!
We are humbled as a family and grateful to the entire staff. I can’t imagine the endless days and sleepless nights the team spend monitoring and treating. Or the countless times they needed to bag my babies to help them breathe again. I pray the Almighty blesses you all with your heart felt desires. BIG THANKS.” - Apio Anna Grace, December 2023
Everyday, our local expert neonatal clinicians not only care for these incredibly sick babies but perhaps more importantly they educate and teach more and more healthcare workers to care for small and sick babies like Anna’s.
We really need your help to support the ongoing running of the Neonatal Unit to help more mamas like Anna! Check out the links below for ways to donate if you are interested
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