We are fortunate that NICHE has friends who support us in various ways.
This is Gloria, approaching her 10th decade, and an inveterate knitter!
One of WHO’s main recommendations for newborn care is prevention of hypothermia. Newborn babies quickly lose heat through their heads; drying and covering the head with a hat immediately after birth is a simple but vital step. This is equally important in hot and cold countries.
When NICHE instructors train midwives and other birth attendants in a low resource country, we leave equipment for them to use. This includes a supply of hats for babies, as mothers do not always have their own baby clothes.
Gloria has bought wool, and knitted hundreds of baby hats for us, including tiny ones for premature infants. She says that this is her contribution to our work: it is a valuable one, for which we – and about 200 babies in west Africa so far – are very grateful.
