helping out clinically in the lunch breaks

Grace directing Ugandan health professionals in how to make homemade CPAP

A premature baby (probably about 28 weeks gestation) was born on our first day in Bwindi. He weighed 1kg (2.2lbs). The paediatrician had just left the hospital and we were asked to help the young doctor pictured above who was covering the paediatric unit. Grace and Julia have visited daily for the last 5 days and supported the nurses in their excellent care of the tiny little boy who is now off CPAP and in skin to skin care with his mother for much of the day. It is normal for these babies to lose up to 10% of their birthweight and he now weighs 890g but is tolerating his expressed breast milk and I would expect him to start to put on weight from now on. He has had no blood tests, no x-rays and only homemade CPAP to support his breathing. He is a shining example of what good nursing care can do and we have used him throughout the course to illustrate what we teach about supporting preterm babies. These are the lives that can be saved by teaching staff the Neonatal Care Course.

Julia attending to the 28 week gestation baby on the neonatal unit

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