Project Report
| Feb 6, 2023
Halima & Sarah
By Kathy Burgoine | Neonatal Lead, Mbale, Eastern Uganda
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“We are Halima and Sarah, we are so very happy to be discharged today,” exclaimed the mama and Jaja (grandmother).
Sarah begins, “I had never seen or heard of such a baby in my life. This was the first baby I had seen like this. We thought the baby was not going to live. The midwife from the facility we delivered at immediately called another doctor who sent us here to the neonatal unit.”
Halima takes over smiling from ear to ear whilst looking at her baby, “I had heard of such babies born with their intestines outside but had never see one that lived. When I delivered this baby I was very afraid of what was going to happen. As soon as we were sent to the neonatal unit we took a motorcycle straight here. When we got to the neonatal unit, we found another baby with the same problem who was alive and well and this gave us some comfort. When the neonatal team had reduced all the intestines back inside our baby, they told us that they would operate on the baby, to close the hole. We were very worried that the baby wouldn’t make it out alive.”
Sarah smiles at her daughter and grandchild, dressed smartly and ready for discharge and concludes, “We would like to tell other people that give birth to such babies that there is hope for such a child in the neonatal unit. We want to encourage other mothers that deliver such babies not to give up hope and if they make it to the neonatal unit their babies can be given a chance like ours was.”
What an amazing achievement this is. Halima’s baby is the third baby we have discharged home this year following successful reduction and closure of their gastroschisis. Gastroschisis is where a baby is born with all their intestines outside of their body, in settings like ours almost all of these babies die. But with patience and determination our team have developed their skills in successfully managing these babies. We hope for more happy endings this year!
If you would like to support our team to save more babies like Halima’s and train others in lifesaving skills like this, please get in touch.
We are reliant on your monthly donations to run our projects.
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Oct 10, 2022
Namutosi & Chelangat
By Adam Hewitt Smith | Trustee, Born on the Edge
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We are delighted to share with you two stories that demonstrate the work we do, but the space is so squeezed we struggle to fit all our tiny babies in and alongside these success stories are many sad and frustrating deaths. We continue to fundraise towards our new neonatal unit and thank you for your support.
"When I was told I was going to be operated on before my due date, I did not think my baby would make it. I was very scared of what would happen. When I got to the neonatal unit I was worried when I saw my baby on a breathing machine (CPAP), and kept asking the doctors why my baby had to stay on it for so long.
Early on, I had a big challenge with my caretakers (the people helping me in hospital), as they weren’t following the advice of the neonatal team and rules of the neonatal unit. They had given up on my baby and wanted us to be discharged.
I finally managed to make it to the neonatal unit and took charge of my baby and this really made a difference. The team explained what was expected of me and encouraged me to take an active role in the care of my baby.
The rules on hygiene and infection prevention in the neonatal unit were very strict and sometimes hard to follow. But I now understand that it was all to protect our babies from the different illnesses that can be spread by poor hygiene. Up to now I keep strict hygiene before handling my baby and it has really helped.
I really want to encourage other mothers in eastern Uganda, who might deliver preterm babies, not to give up on their babies. If they bring them to the neonatal unit, the team will care for and treat their baby. All that they need to do is follow the strict feeding and hygiene rules and their baby will also make it.
Thank you to the team of the neonatal unit for taking care of my baby, I didn’t think I would go home with a live baby. I am so very grateful.” - Namutosi
“I am so very happy for my baby to be discharged from the hospital today. Before delivering this baby I had never seen a baby this small. He was just 900g. My husband and I were very worried. Immediately we delivered the baby in Kapchorwa district we were referred to Mbale since they said they could not handle a baby this size there. They had no machines to help the baby breathe and the weather is much colder in Kapchorwa than Mbale. We were worried that the cold would be bad for our baby. Our experience in the neonatal unit in Mbale was a great one, we were immediately received and handled by the staff here.
The strict rules were a challenge but we were explained to the reason why we needed to follow all those rules to help protect our baby from infection.
Over the 5 weeks we have been here, my husband and I have learned how to do kangaroo care. We enjoy the feeling of closeness to our baby. We were told that it would help keep the baby warm and for him to grow.
My husband and I are very happy with how our baby has grown now. He can take milk very well and is gaining weight.
I encourage mothers who have such small babies to bring them here as I know they will be taken good care of them. With this neonatal unit, there is hope for small babies like mine to survive. We are very grateful to the neonatal team and pray that God continues to bless them.” - Chelengat
Please continue to share our work with your friends and colleagues so that they too can experience our inspiring stories.
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Jun 13, 2022
Happy 7th Birthday
By Adam Hewitt Smith | Trustee
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It is an amazing 7 years since we joined together in partnership with Mbale Regional Referral Hospital in eastern Uganda, to open the doors of the neonatal unit! And we haven’t looked back or stopped since!
Our admissions have rocketed from around 100 sick and small babies a month to almost 300 a month. Alongside our mortality has plummeted from 52% to just over 10%. To put that into numbers, we are now saving the lives of over 1,100 babies a year who would otherwise not have made it! In fact since we started our project we have treated almost 18,000 newborn babies.
Our skilled team work hand in hand with the hospital team, training up new team members and leading life saving newborn care. Alongside this we continue to train medical and nursing students and healthcare workers through short attachments to the neonatal unit. We still regularly deliver our newborn care training courses across hospitals across eastern Uganda. And everyday we push the boundaries of what is achievable in this low-resource setting. We run a 10-bed high-dependency care unit, perform bedside brain scans, lung ultrasounds and heart scans everyday.
Whilst we are always delighted to share the successes we achieve with you, we realise that none of this would be possible without your generosity and support. In reality, we are overwhelmed in an incredibly small space. Our high-dependency area should have 2 beds in, not 10 and our ward which has the capacity for 20 patients is filled with up to 100 at any one time.
Our babies are some of the most vulnerable in the world and we need more support to achieve our dream of building a new home for the team. Our designs for a neonatal unit have been developed specifically for our uniquie challenges in Uganda such as high patient numbers, low staffing levels and regular challenges with power and water. Until it is built, we will continue to suffer.
We hope that you can help us achieve our dream.
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