Save the Children urges care for premature births

Director of health for Save the Children (USA) in Malawi, David Melody, has said premature births have the potential to grow into useful citizens if given the opportunities.

Melody said this on Thursday in Senior Chief Nyambi’s area in Machinga during the launch of a Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) project aimed at sensitising communities to the importance of nursing premature babies.

KMC involves infants being carried, usually by the mother, father or substitute caregiver with skin-to-skin contact. It aims at maintaining stable warmth for premature infants and reducing time spent in overcrowded hospital environments.

Ministry of Health public relations officer Adrian Chikumbe attributed of premature births to delays by pregnant mothers to go for antenatal services.

“KMC is low-cost and feasible, and it is one of the most effective ways of giving such babies the chance to survive and thrive,” he said. n