Kyotera, Rakai neonatal care units save over 1,000 babies

BY AMBROSE MUSASIZI

Kyotera and Rakai’s first ever neonatal intensive care units have saved up to 1,000 babies in less than two years, Daily Monitor has established.

The two units, which were launched in March last year, cater for premature babies and those born with health complications. Each unit is designed to admit at least eight premature babies at a time.

Medics at the two hospitals told Daily Monitor that the neonatal intensive care units donated by well-wishers and friends have helped reduce infant mortality rate in the area.

Dr Yasin Kiyemba, the Rakai Hospital medical superintendent, told Daily Monitor in a recent interview that the neonatal care unit is one of their biggest assets.
“We have been able to save lives of more than 500 babies at the neonatal care unit from the time the hospital got it in March 2019,” Dr Kiyemba said.

The facility serves mothers from the areas of Kacheera, Isingiro, Kasensero, and Mutukula.
The two units were a donation from Brick by Brick through its Babies and Mothers Alive (BAMA) programme.
Brick by Brick is a non-governmental organisation that focuses on improving health and education standards in Rakai and Kyotera districts.

Initially, residents seeking the services of the neonatal units were being referred to Masaka and Kitovu hospitals, which are far away. The medical expenses too were not pocket friendly.
Dr Kiyemba explained that their records have about 500 children that have been helped out through the neonatal Intensive care unit.

“The only challenge is the small room where the intensive care unit is situated. Such a unit should be in a wide space so that there is no suffocation. We in most cases need to place those babies in a wider space after labelling them, by attaching them with their mother’s names,” he said.
“We appeal to the administrators at Babies and Mothers Alive to try and engage the hospital by way of constructing a more spacious room for the unit,” he added.

Dr Emmanuel Ssekyeru, the Kalisizo Hospital medical superintendent, said about 25 children are attended to in the intensive care unit on a monthly basis something that has greatly improved children’s health.
However, he said the two oxygen concentrators cannot serve more babies in critical condition.

“Apparently, we have two oxygen concentrators whereby one is put in the theatre and the other in the maternity ward. We, therefore, request the government or any sympathisers to avail us more of them to ease our work”, he explained.
Dr Helen Nakintu, the coordinator of Brick by Brick Uganda, explained that they have since last year been receiving positive reports about the intensive care unit services at the two hospitals from both the community and the health workers.
She added that there have been some financial challenges but they expect to make possible arrangements and lend a hand where possible.

“We are pleased that our initiative of introducing incubators and other related equipment to save the lives of premature children has been of a great importance because the reports are extremely positive. We expect to intervene where they have faced challenges because we care for their lives,” Dr Nakintu explained.

She added that their aim was to prevent the death of premature children since they had on several occasions received reports of infants dying on their way to referral hospitals in Masaka and Kitovu.
“In our reports we realised a gap in Kakuuto, Mutukula, Kasensero and Nangoma Island. We are soon going to give out an incubator to Kakuuto Health Centre IV so that those areas are also covered,” Dr Nakintu said.

Ms Allen Namata, a resident of Kigenya village in Kasaali Town Council, Kyotera District, who is one of the beneficiaries of the neonatal unit, said she had earlier experienced pregnancy complications until she sought advice from medical experts.

“We ended up at Kalisizo Hospital where the health workers were able to diagnose the complication. This was in June 2019 when I was admitted at the facility. I gave birth to a premature baby that was quickly ushered into the neonatal unit. I was discharged from the facility with a healthy baby after two weeks. My baby is healthy because we were able to get the required medical support,” Ms Namata claims.
Her story is not different from those of other mothers whose premature babies were successfully attended to at Kalisizo and Rakai hospitals.

Expectant mothers from Nangoma Island and Kasensero Landing Site have also always faced a challenge of reaching health centres and early this year, two of them died on their way to Kakuuto Health Centre IV. Statistics from the Health ministry show that 38 per cent of the 39,000 deaths occurring in the babies’ first 28 days are due to premature situations. This is because premature babies’ lungs are underdeveloped, which causes breathing difficulties, among other health problems, experts say.

The infant mortality rate for Uganda in 2019 was 44.745 deaths per 1000 live births, a 3.02 per cent decline from 2018. The infant mortality rate for Uganda in 2018 was 46.138 deaths per 1000 live births, a 5.27 per cent decline from 2017.

Africa outlook
Women in sub-Saharan Africa face a 1 in 37-lifetime risk of dying during pregnancy or childbirth. By comparison, the lifetime risk for a woman in Europe is 1 in 6500. Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia account for around 80 per cent of global maternal and child deaths, statistics from the World Health Organisation indicate. Since 1990, there has been a 56 per cent reduction in deaths of children under 15 years from 14.2 million deaths to 6.2 million in 2018.

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