Dr Gillian Bogee, a Paediatrician and Head of the Newborn Care Unit of the Upper East Regional Hospital in Bolgatanga, has appreciated and commended the contributions of orderlies in the Unit towards infection prevention.
“I want to acknowledge my orderlies because infection prevention in the Newborn Care Unit is something important.
“We can give all the medications we want, but then, if the infection prevention is nothing to write home about, we will still have a lot of our babies not pulling through,” she said.
She said the orderlies washed bedlinens, mobbed the floors, and made sure baby incubators at the Unit were kept clean, “So I want to thank the orderlies, those who have been keeping the ward very clean for us.”
Dr Bogee expressed the appreciation and commendation to the orderlies in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the sideline of activities to climax the World Prematurity month celebration of the Unit.
The month of November is usually celebrated as Prematurity month, and the just ended celebration was on the theme: “Small Actions, Big impact: immediate skin-to-skin for every baby everywhere.”
The Unit, in the month-long celebration, engaged various Units in the Hospital on importance of Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC), undertook radio discussions and education on KMC and the need to care for preterm babies among other activities.
KMC is the act of putting a baby skin-to-skin on the mother in a kangaroo position.
The celebration was climaxed with a debate between a clinician and a parent of a premature baby on the topic: “In the care of a preterm baby, the clinician’s role is more important than the parent.”
Though it was a tough contest between the two, the parents who spoke against the motion eventually won the debate and were presented with a citation and purple T-shirt.
Dr Bogee also expressed appreciation to her team of nurses for the successes chalked in the Unit over the years, and said their contributions coupled with that of the orderlies was highly commendable.
She called for the need to prevent preterm deliveries, and encouraged expectant mothers to take their Ante-Natal Care (ANC) services seriously, as pregnancy related complications were identified and averted during the ANC.
She stressed the need for expectant mothers to avoid over-the-counter medications, adding that “Is not about taking care of the preterm babies, but we want to prevent it from happening.”
She explained that “Once they are delivered, their lungs are not matured, they don’t have very good kidney functions, they can even bleed into the brain, they can’t eat very well, they are not able to control their body temperatures.”
She acknowledged that the care of preterm babies was extremely difficult and called on to-be fathers and family members to extend support to expectant mothers.
“Family members should be supportive throughout the journey,” the Paediatrician insisted.
She thanked the management of the Hospital, the Regional Health Directorate and all partners who had over the years supported the Newborn Care Unit since its establishment in 2014 and called for more support from stakeholders.
Madam Catherine Anyoka, Nursing and Midwifery Manager of the Hospital, encouraged mothers of preterm babies to continue to stay strong and care for their babies despite the challenges involved.
She said though clinicians played critical roles in the care of preterm babies, the role of parents was equally critical and could not be undermined, as healthcare delivery was a collective responsibility for all stakeholders within the health service delivery system.