Support our newborn care training team

“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.