By Hope Okeny | Project Leader
The birth of a child is always a time of great rejoicing. It means that a couple was blessed, and that the family unit and the community are being perpetuated and strengthened.
It is this joy that Achan was experienceing, as she struggled to walk to the health centre. For a journey of 2km to the health centre, this seemed so far. She has made this journey several times before, sometimes even walking further distances. But this time it was different, she was experiencing labour pains, she knew that if she only made it to the clinic, she would be taken care of. At 6 am, as the cock continued to crow in the neighbourhood, Achan arrived at the health centre, escorted by her husband, she had been experiencing labour contractions all night but with no means of transport, she could not leave to go the health centre. So, she impatiently waited for daybreak as the contractions persisted, her husband comforted her all the way.
She delivered the baby at 11.43am. The pain was over!. Achan and her husband were overjoyed. It was a boy!
The day a child is born should be a time of joy, yet it is the first days of life that carry the highest risk of death for both mothers and their new borns. New borns now account for nearly half of the 16,000 children under five years of age dying every day. If children don't live past the critical newborn period, then they cant reach their full potential.
However, the good news is there are proven solutions and our health workers are helping save newborn babies lives. Mothers are advised to initiate breastfeeding at birth and ensure that they keep the new borns warm, thereby reducing death in newborns. Whats more, many of these solutions are affordable and accessible thanks to the generosity of our supporters.
If generous and supportive people like you support our efforts, then we can help babies- and all children- have better chance of survival and thriving especially in under resourced communities. It ensures that our caring staff can help little babies grow up healthy, take their fist steps, learn to read and grow into responsible citizens of this country.
That is why at the Karin Community Initiatives Uganda, we have invested in helping children and enabling them start a healthy life. When generous people like you support us the role of a mother and the newborn’s potential is optimized.
Thank you friends
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