Physical Health Uganda Project #45267

Centre of excellence for newborn care in Uganda

by Born on the Edge

Project Report | Feb 6, 2023
Halima & Sarah

By Kathy Burgoine | Neonatal Lead, Mbale, Eastern Uganda

“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.

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