Maternal and Child Health: Inside Neonatal ICU, Northern Ethiopia: Meet Usman Hussein, Saving Newborn Lives.

There was that morning, in the delivery room, when nurse Usman Hussein held a 900-gram baby in his arms in its first minute of life.

900 grams.

That’s almost lighter than a full morning coffee mug. Almost as heavy as a hard-cover best-seller novel.  Yet, in the baby’s quiet snuffle and fragile bundle was a promise of life. But a human life in 800 grams is just too delicate. Too vulnerable.

“Premature birth is the first reason (for complication). When babies are born prematurely, their lungs won’t grow enough, their kidneys won’t grow enough, and their hearts won’t beat properly,” he says.

The underweight newborn was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of Dupti General Hospital, Afar, northern Ethiopia, where Usman works. The hospital is the only referral hospital in the region, serving about 350,000 people and nearly 200 births every month. The hospital, however, serves an area with nearly 1  million people. ^[1]

In Ethiopia, one of the main causes of neonatal deaths^[2] is prematurity, often linked to a lack of proper antenatal care resulting from lack of access to primary health care services in rural locations.

The golden minute

Usman, who heads the neonatal intensive care unit, said the main goal was to help the baby gain weight and avoid infection while doing so.

Skilled medical workers

It is the hands of trained medical workers like Usman who oversee complex neonatal cases, ensuring that while such babies’ lives are already at a rocky start in the ICU, they have a better chance of survival.   

“Training nurses like us is a big contributor to increasing the survival rates for babies who often develop complications in their first 28 days. “ he adds. 

It’s specialised nurses like Usman who are also the first to hold the babies when they are first born. And to witness the first infectious tiny yawn,  the first squirm;  their first little sneeze.  That first sneeze is especially important in the region where Usman works. 

Infact, small wins like a baby’s sneeze are milestones of happiness. It especially matters because the Afar region, where the hospital is situated, has some of the highest rates of child death in Africa and the world. 

According to the UN 75 % of neonatal deaths (75%) occur during the first week of life, and about 1 million newborns die within the first 24 hours. The report says^[1], an infant in a sub-Saharan African country like Ethiopia, is 12 times more likely to die than a child born in a high-income country like the UK, US or Sweden.^[2]

Working in neonatal ICU is not walk in the park. Every day presents new challenges and complications. While this is true, trained medical nurses like Usman ensure that All newborns have access to essential newborn care.

They ensure that babies with complications are protected from infection when they are most vulnerable and are supported to breathe normally, be warm, and be fed. 

Training.

Through Amref Health Africa’s support, Dupti General Hospital has constructed and opened the region’s first neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). A baby’s intensive care unit is an intense place. There are beeping equipment, tiny fragile babies, and parents holding their breaths. But it’s here that complicated cases of newlyborn babies who are yet to be 28 days old are brought for treatment.

Through the same programme, Usman and other nurses in the neonatal unit received specialised training on working in the ICU for newborns, supporting children, and treating them.

“I have received extra training in neonatal care,” Usman adds, “I also took training on the medical equipment we use for neonates.”

In a few weeks, the underweight baby went from less than one kg to 1.5 kg and was later released. As a young boy whose sudden illness and visit to a local hospital had convinced Usman to join the medical world, this was one of his proudest moments.

All big things come from small beginnings, and the once underweight, tiny baby will celebrate his first birthday.

Author: Kipng’enoh, Fundraising Content Manager

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^[1] https://www.doctors4ethiopia.com/adoptedhospitals

^[2] https://www.usaid.gov/ethiopia/global-health/maternal-neonatal-and-child-health

^[3] https://childmortality.org/all-cause-mortality/analysis/disparity?indicator=MRY0

^[4] https://data.unicef.org/country/eth/