Lindi hospital bolsters newborn care with quality NICU service

LINDI: THE collaboration between Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the Ministry of Health at Liwale District hospital brings significant improvements to newborn care, including reducing mortality and strengthening healthcare workers’ capacity to care for premature babies and newborns facing various health challenges.

Speaking about the services provided in the Neonatal Unit, Irish Chanzu, an MSF international staff Nursing Supervisor said that the unit provides a range of essential services, including newborn resuscitation, care for premature and low-birth-weight babies, management of newborn infections and jaundice, oxygen therapy and other respiratory support, treatment of birth asphyxia, Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC), feeding and nutritional support, and monitoring of vital signs, weight, blood sugar and temperature. The unit also provides care for newborns with complications requiring close monitoring and refers critically ill babies to higher-level facilities when necessary.

She said doctors and healthcare workers continue to work closely together and remain committed to ensuring that these babies receive appropriate care.

“Since I joined the team for the second time, I have witnessed significant improvements in staff performance, the availability of equipment and the quality of healthcare services. We have also received valuable on-the-job training, which has strengthened our skills and contributed to a reduction in neonatal mortality. We are very grateful for this support,” Chanzu said.

She said what brings her the greatest joy is seeing worried mothers who arrive at the hospital with sick or low-birth-weight babies eventually return home with their children healthy, stronger and doing well.

“Seeing these babies gain weight and start breastfeeding well is very rewarding. When their parents return for follow-up visits and we see how much the babies have improved, you can see the happiness on their faces. That is one of the things that gives me the greatest satisfaction in my work,” she said.

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Cosmas Pascal Samaka, a nurse working in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Liwale District Hospital, said MSF works together with the Ministry of Health to ensure that newborns receive quality care aimed at saving their lives and giving them the opportunity to grow and develop.

Samaka said the partnership has also benefited healthcare workers by allowing them to exchange experiences and learn different professional skills from different contexts.

Gema Shayo a nurse-midwife, said she was happy to see more mothers seeking antenatal care and accessing maternal and child health services at the facility§ happy to see babies weighing less than one kilogram receive care and eventually leave the hospital after gaining weight and becoming healthier.

She said MSF has helped her gain knowledge and access to guidelines that enable her to provide care according to appropriate procedures, as well as educate parents on how to care for their babies after discharge.

“MSF has provided additional equipment that has made our work much easier and improved the efficiency of newborn care. I hope MSF can continue supporting other hospitals across Tanzania so that more children with health complications can receive the quality care they need,” she said.

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