EMBRASE TECHNOLOGY TO REDUCE NEO-NATAL MORTALITY
By Adiga J
Uganda has been urged to embrace modern technology as a new avenue for the country’s health facilities if neonatal mortality is to be reduced.
According to the senior consultant pediatrician at Mengo hospital, Dr. Margaret Mpalampa, she says that the first 28 days of a new baby are very delicate and therefore call for special and modernized care from the health providers for the new life to be sustained which in most Ugandan facilities lack hence the increased neonatal mortality which reflects negatively to the country’s health indicators.
Speaking at a function where joint medical stores was donating a baby incubator and a baby warmer that are microprocessor controlled to Mengo hospital, Dr. Mpalampa revealed that preterm birth complications are directly responsible for 31% of Uganda’s neo-natal deaths adding that many of the preterm babies who survive face lifetime disabilities noting that each year 200,000 or 14% of Uganda’s babies are born prematurely before 37 weeks.
She further says that 30 premature babies are handled in Nasolo ward and of these, 2-5 are lost due to complications.
However, the executive director joint medical stores Dr. Bildard Baguma states that every pregnant mother hopes to experience the bundle of joy by carrying a healthy new born after the gestation period of nine months but for some this comes prematurely and hence the need to have best equipment to handle such complex cases among the new borns to save their lives.
The equipment will be used to measure the amount of blood, pulses, oxygen in the baby’s body as well as warm the premature babies put in the incubator.
