The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Wenchi Methodist Hospital in the Bono region is advocating the involvement of men in the Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) of preterm babies. 

According to the unit, Kangaroo Mother Care could be done by anybody apart from the mothers, hence the need to get fathers also doing it to keep their babies warm.

Head of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Wenchi Methodist Hospital, a Paediatrician, Dr Solomon Chemogo, disclosed this in an exclusive interview with JoyNews on this year’s World Prematurity Day.

Today, November 17, is World Prematurity Day. A day set aside to create awareness about the struggles of premature babies and how to care for them so that they can thrive.

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Wenchi Methodist Hospital is using the day to sensitise mothers to ensure that they practice Kangaroo Mother Care for the survival of their preterm babies.

Dr Chemogo explained that Kangaroo Mother Care combines skin-to-skin contact with exclusive breastfeeding or the provision of breast milk for babies.

He emphasised that the success of survival in preterm babies depends on regular KMC or skin-to-skin contact, hence the need for the men to get involved.

''As part of our awareness creation for this year's prematurity celebration month, we want to drum-home the message that small actions yield bigger impacts.

So we are focusing on immediate skin-to-skin contact because studies have shown that when we do skin-to-skin, the baby’s temperature gets stabilised, it helps them in their weight gain, and prevents them from having breathing difficulties.

We want to advise the public that skin-to-skin also helps in the survival of premature babies, for it can be done everywhere and by anybody, so I call on my fellow men to assist their wives with the Kangaroo mother care,’’ he stated.  

Dr Chemogo appealed for support to get a spacious facility to house the preterm babies to avoid congestion, which could cause infections and lead to death among the babies.

A mother of a premature baby, Rebecca Antwi, expressed delight about the KMC, adding ‘‘it is convenient and does not involve any cost’’.

According to the World Health Organisation, about 15 million babies worldwide are born preterm, which is about 1 in 10 babies.

It further says preterm birth is the leading cause of death in children under the age of five each year.

The Wenchi Methodist Hospital alone has recorded 100 preterm babies from January to October this year, but 13 of them died.

10 died due to complications of prematurity, 2 died due to severe birth asphyxia, and 1 died as a result of infection from home delivery.