The Founder of NICU Soldiers, an advocacy blog that focuses on neo-natal care, Efia Akese, has called for support for mothers whose babies are on admission at various Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) across the country.
Akese, whose has had two stints at a NICU, said the unit was a difficult place for mothers whose newborns are admitted immediately after delivery.
“These mothers, who had just delivered, go through trauma and difficulties. Most of them are still recovering from childbirth and have no choice but to stay by their babies at the unit to nurse them,” she said.
Ms Akese made the call when her organisation, with support from Nutriday yoghurt, zinc fortified yoghurt by Fan Milk, made donations to mothers whose babies are on admission at the Eastern Regional Hospital’s NICU in Koforidua on Mother’s Day.
NICU Soldiers shared lunch packs and Nutriday yoghurt with the mothers and health workers to celebrate them for their dedication and effort to keep babies with complications at birth alive.
The donation, she said was a prelude to NICU soldiers’ main annual fundraiser to be launched in July this year.
Miss Akese said the Eastern Regional Hospital would be the beneficiary of this year’s fundraising activities.
“Last year, NICU Soldiers raised GH40,000 in its ‘Scones for Life’ campaign to support babies on oxygen at the Korle But Teaching Hospital through the sale of pastries to the public,” she said.
She stressed the need for hospitals with NICUs to provide comfortable resting places for mothers, as some of them slept in chairs or on bare floors at the units, which affected their recovery process.
Ms Akese commended the health workers at the unit and urged them to continue giving up their best to ensure that babies at the unit survived.
“Having experienced the NICU twice, I understand the challenges mothers at the unit go through and I can imagine how difficult it is for them, especially on Mother’s Day,” she said.
The NICU Soldiers founder said the donation was to make “mothers feel loved, appreciated and to put a smile on their faces.”
She thanked Nutriday for making the donation a success.
Dr Francis Mensa Akwetey, a Specialist Paediatrician at the unit, thanked NICU Soldiers for the gesture.
“We really appreciate what you have done for our mothers here. Today is mothers ‘day and we are celebrating mothers all over the world but these mothers are here taking care of their sick babies.
“It is nice for you to think about these mothers who could not be at their churches or homes to be celebrated,” he said.
Source: Ghana News Agency
