Mloganzila launches Kangaroo urgent care for mother and her child

DAR ES SALAAM: MUHIMBILI National Hospital-Mloganzila has officially launched Kangaroo urgent care as a step to keep mother and child close while the child continues to receive special care.

Speaking at the Kangaroo Mother Care Day celebration, Muhimbili-Mloganzila Deputy Executive Director Dr Julieth Magandi said a total of 35 children born with various health challenges have started receiving care in the new special neonatal ward, a step aimed at improving services for premature and low-birth-weight children.

She said that due to the introduction of Kangaroo urgent care, the children have been close to their mothers while they continue to receive special services to improve their health, the mother stays with the child on her chest while the mother receives care.

“Services provided in the ward include special care for low birth weight babies and those who need close care immediately after birth. Immediate Kangaroo Mother Care has begun to be provided where the baby is placed close to its mother immediately after birth even if it still needs medical attention.

ALSO READ: Tanzania intensifies efforts to eliminate non-tariff barriers with Kenya and Zambia.

She said the service helps the baby control body temperature, strengthen the heart rate and increase the chance of a quick recovery, explaining that the hospital has also continued to improve the service delivery environment by adding medical equipment and providing training to health professionals who care for newborns.

In another step, Dr Magandi said the breast milk bank at the hospital has successfully collected 521 liters of breast milk that will be used to help premature babies and those with various health challenges in the one and a half year since the establishment of the unit.

She said the milk was collected from mothers who volunteered to donate after undergoing a health screening to ensure the safety of the milk for children who need it.

“This is an important service that involves the collection, storage and distribution of safe milk for infants who are unable to get their mother’s milk due to various reasons including the mother being sick, the baby being born prematurely or other health challenges. The service has continued to help many children born with low birth weight and those who need urgent nutrition in the early days after birth.

For her part, the Assistant Director of Nutrition Services, Ministry of Health Neema Joshua said that breast milk saves children’s lives where they have discovered that there are children who lack breast milk due to various challenges so far we are happy to see the presence of the bank.

“We have put this in the child nutrition guidelines and we had a map showing us what is needed because breast milk is important so having a bank and a service that does not separate the mother and the child we are happy now.

She added “We will continue to collaborate with the team, this will still happen and Mloganzila is part of the learning curve and other hospitals will learn from this, we thank all those who volunteered.