Muhimbili-Mloganzila National Hospital has continued to make great strides in improving maternal and child health services after establishing an integrated Immediate Kangaroo Mother Care (IKMC) service and achieving the initial stages of the establishment of a Human Milk Bank by establishing and operating a storage unit
The Kangaroo Mother Care service has been a great help to premature babies by enabling them to have close contact with the mother or caregiver through the placement of the baby on the chest.
The method has continued to help children control body temperature, strengthen breathing, increase breastfeeding as well as strengthen the closeness between child and parent.
Through the IKMC service, the children have been receiving the service immediately after birth even when they need special medical attention.
Speaking on behalf of the Executive Director of MNH, Deputy Executive Director of Muhimbili-Mloganzila National Hospital Dr. Julieth Magandi, has said that the hospital has established a special Mother-Newborn Intensive Care Unit (M-NICU) ward that enables the mother and child to continue to be together while the child receives treatment and special care.
He has noted that the preparations for starting the service involved training for health professionals as well as improving the service delivery environment, while 35 children have already received the service.
In terms of the breast milk storage unit, the hospital has managed to store 521 liters of breast milk in the period of one and a half years since the service was established, where the milk has been collected from breastfeeding mothers and stored for the use of their children, where an average of two to five liters have been stored every day to help infants.
On his part, the Deputy Director of Maternal and Child Health from the Ministry of Health, Dr. Felix Bundala, said that these services have a great contribution in reducing the challenges of children born prematurely.
He said the Ministry of Health in collaboration with stakeholders will continue to support the efforts made by MNH-Mloganzila to ensure services are provided with the required quality.
