The New-born Care Unit of the Sandema Hospital in the Builsa North Municipality, Upper East Region, has appealed to philanthropists, benevolent individuals and organisations for incubators to augment its service delivery. 

The unit has four functional incubators, which serve the entire Municipality, the Builsa South District, some communities in the Kassena-Nankana West District, and Yagaba in the Mamprugu-Moagduri District of the North East Region. 

Ms. Patience Aworodago Apuri, the Head of the Unit, who made the appeal in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Sandema, said the unit needed more incubators to enable it serve people within and outside the Municipality. 

She said in situations where the unit received more neonatal cases that needed to be in incubators, staff had no option than to put two or more babies in one incubator. 

“We have no option than to pair two babies in one incubator when we get overwhelming number of cases,” the Unit Head said. 

Ms. Apuri said apart from the urgent need for the incubators, the Unit was not spacious enough to accommodate both babies and mothers. 

She said: “We have limited space in the Unit for mothers.  

“When the ward is full, we manage to get the babies some space, but the mothers just hang around because we do not have beds for them to relax on. In fact, there is no space to even keep beds, so if we can also get help in that regard, it will be fine,” she added. 

She further called for support for some mothers of preterm babies in the Unit who were neglected by their families, “Sometimes what to feed is a very big challenge to them. So we encourage donations from members of the public to support these mothers and their babies.” 

She said some risk factors of preterm delivery such as drug or alcohol abuse could be prevented, while others, including multiple pregnancies could not be prevented. 

She, therefore, advised expectant mothers to seek early Antenatal services to enable health staff identify early warning signs in pregnancy to save them and their unborn babies, and urged them to desist from home delivery, as such practice could lead to complications. 

“When they attend Antenatal clinics early and regularly, we are able to monitor them and know those at risk and advise accordingly,” Ms Apuri said. 

She commended staff of the Unit for their relentless efforts and dedication to work despite the challenges, which had over the years saved several preterm babies who passed through the Unit since it was established in 2015. 

Ms Apuri equally expressed gratitude to Management of the Hospital and Non-Governmental Organizations, notably UNICEF, Jhpiego Ghana, USAID, Momentum Country Global and KOICA for their support over the years.