To address the high infant mortality rate among preterm babies in Nigeria, the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH) is using a combination of the Kangaroo mother care and the modern incubators to give life to new-borns. AGBO-PAUL AUGUSTINE reports on the success achieved so far.
Nothing could be more pleasing to 26 years old Mrs Sandra Iheasirim who hails from Aboh-Mbaise local government area of Imo State than to feel the tender body of her preterm baby.
Mrs. Iheasirim was delivered of a baby that was several weeks short of the full gestation age of 38 weeks, hence, needs the nursing at the Special Baby Care Unit of the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH), Gwagwalada.
For days, the Imo State born woman longed to feel the warmness of her baby which according to her is ‘a confirmation of motherhood’.
Medical officials at the hospital barricaded the premature baby from Mrs. Iheasirim to provide the best of care and because of the fact that babies at that stage of life are prone to infections.
But using the Kangaroo mother care adopted by the hospital, Mrs Iheasirim was able to feel the warmness of her infant baby girl for the first time and told LEADERSHIP Weekend that: “I was happy because it’s been long they have been denying me not to carry my baby, I was sad as a mother, but I am happy now,” she said. Like Mrs Ihearisim is Mrs. Blessing Adebayo, 28, from Yagba East LGA of Kogi State who was elated to see her premature baby gained weight in the pouch of the Kangaroo mother care. “It’s a nice innovation, I see my baby improving every day,” the elated mother said.
Prior before 2009, the tertiary hospital located 51 kilometers from Abuja, the nation’s capital has seen several infants die. According to the Chief Medical Director, UATH, Dr. Peter Alabi, up till 2009 the mortality rate among infants in the hospital was about 400 per 1, 000.
Among array of reasons for the high number of death, was the fact that the teaching hospital was left with only one functioning incubator. By reality, hitherto only few of the preterm babies had chances of survival.
Worried by the precarious state, the hospital management decide to develop its special baby care unit with a move to refurbish it broken down incubators and the introduction of the Kangaroo mother care to mothers.
The Kangaroo mother care was taken after the animal Kangaroo which uses its pouch to nurse its infants, providing vital body temperature and preventing the baby from infection from its natural environment.
LEADERSHIP Weekend learnt that the Kangaroo mother care allow the preterm baby to come in contact the mother. It helps to synchronise the temperature of the baby which means that if the temperature is high, the mother’s body has a way of absorbing and normalising it.
If the temperature is low, LEADERSHIP Weekend also understand the mother’s temperature will naturally build it up to the normal temperature.
It was further revealed that the heartbeat of the mother helps to strengthen the baby’s heartbeat. It also minimise burning of calories which according to the Special Baby Care Unit (SBCU) caregivers, the baby is not restless, so there is minimal consumption of calories which give the baby the opportunity to grow well.
Officials at the SBCU told LEADERSHIP Weekend that the formula creates a strong bonding between mother and the preterm baby.
Speaking to LEADERSHIP Weekend on the recent innovation in the hospital, UATH CMD, Dr. Peter Alabi, said in the past the hospital was faced with gross shortage of incubators.
While the baby care was in existence in the hospital, taking up fully was a challenge as several of the incubators don’t have their full components in place even the new ones.
“We could not install them because most of the components were not there. So, by providence, we came in contact with one Prof. Amadi from one of the institutions in London who was engaged in recycling old incubators and making it familiar with the tropical environment. So, we brought him in and he decided to work on some of these old incubators, even carcasses that we have in the store.
“He brought them all out, so from one incubator in 2008, we now have about 17 and out of the 17, it is only one that we can say we bought new. All the others were recycled and they worked perfectly even more than new incubators. They adapt to this environment very well,” Alabi said.
He added that the expert visits the medical facility only twice a year for maintenance. Knowing the threat to equipment from frequent power outages, the incubators rest on power banks when the hospital suffers power cut.
The combination of the two methods according to Dr. Alabi has improved in no measure the number of deaths of infants in the hospital in recent times.
“As at the last review, the mortality had dropped to about below 70 per 1,000. And the millennium development goal target is about 67 per cent reduction in mortality, but here we have been able to achieve close to 80 per cent reduction in mortality which is above national average and above even the MDG’s target.
So, if we say Nigeria have not done well in MDG target, it cannot be generalised because there are some institutions that have gone well above the MDG target and we are one of those institutions that have gone well above MDG target simply because if we were to buy new machines, they would cost in multiples of the amount that we have spent,” Alabi added.
Mothers at the paediatric unit of UATH are keen to seeing their babies growing healthy as the two methods are used to save more babies.
By: Agbo-Paul Augustine
Leadership News
ABUJA: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
PORTHARCOURT: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
LAGOS: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
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