Kangaroo mother care method (continued)

{jcomments on}Last week, we looked at the Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) method used to help underweight babies grow healthy and strong. MWERETI KANJO asks Thyolo Hospital nurse Mary Akomananza to elaborate on some of the challenges faced by mothers using the Kangaroo and how to overcome these.

How effective is the Kangaroo method?

It is very effective in saving babies lives. I will give you an example of this hospital (Thyolo Hospital). Last year, we had 164 babies who were born underweight and taken into the Kangaroo Mother Care. Out of this 164, we lost 44 babies only. This, to us, is a good number because when we first started, over 80 percent of the underweight babies born in our hospital died.

What were the contributing factors in the cases where the method failed, so to say?

The Kangaroo Mother Care method depends on body contact. Sometimes we get women who are in denial about the whole thing and refuse to keep their babies on their chest all the time. It is even worse when they go back to their villages because society is yet to accept them. The women are afraid to be laughed at by others as birthing an underweight baby is equated to failure within some villages. In some cases, a woman will leave the village with the baby in her hands and only puts it on her chest when she nears the hospital.

What are the main challenges in the health facilities when it comes to the method?

We do not have enough space to take on all the women and babies at a time. You have seen the room here; it can only take four beds. Because of this, the women are not kept here for as long as we would wish because they have to make room for others. Secondly, there is need for heaters in the rooms because the babies are supposed to be kept warm all the time. At the moment, here at Thyolo we have one heater in the room, which is nowhere near enough.

The women here on KMC are lying down, is this the only recommended position?

No. With Kangaroo Mother Care a woman can go about doing her chores while seated on a chair and the baby strapped to the chest. Women can knit, wash, sieve, so long as the baby is well covered.

Any last words?

There is serious need to educate the communities on the fact that KMC is nothing to be ashamed of. It is a life saving technique that must be adopted by all. It is also vital if we had generators put up in our hospital. My advice to women is that they must not doubt this method, it might look simple but lives have been saved.