We offer different activities and co-operation with governmental and private sector including activities for premature babies, their families and professionals:
– Meetings in support groups for mothers and families with premature babies;
– Learning needs of premature children and their families;
– Holding information days and events, seminars and meetings to exchange experiences among specialists;
– Meetings and cooperation in the development of ideas and projects
Technical and methodological support
Realization of this program aims to equip the maternity hospital with the equipment necessary for premature babies:
- Fundraising
- Finding of missing equipment and tools: incubators, ventilators, respirators, breathing circuits with monitors, heart monitors, humidifiers, heaters, and special food tubes for babies, breast pumps for moms, covers for incubators, and clothing for premature babies, etc.
We also are going to teach specialists to work with this equipment. This activity includes equipping of rooms for moms where they can pump milk and get all the necessary support. And in the long term – creating rooms where mother and babies can stay together (now mothers and their babies are in different buildings and departments of hospital, and almost all babies are bottle-fed away from the mothers, what significantly increases the time of their rehabilitation and reduces the quality).
Education professionals
We want to enhance professional level of the specialists of hospitals, in which preterm babies are nursed. To make it possible for specialists to learn new technologies, and to prevent emotional burnout. We want to make effective communication with parents of premature babies and their families. Our goal is to learn and to use the best examples of foreign experience in this sphere, and to exchange our experience with other organizations.
Production of covers for incubators
Premature babies are placed in special transparent boxes-incubators in the intensive care nursery. Inside the incubatorthere is an optimal artificial microclimate (heat and humidity levels). One of the major problems of premature babies is underdeveloped retina. Baby’s eyes painfully react to any light and the retinopathy of premature can appear.
In global practice in nursing of premature babies, incubators should be used with special cover. This cover helps to regulate the amount of light entering the incubator, blackout partially recreates the environment in which the baby was in the womb, and the covers filled with polyester fiber help to avoid unnecessary heat loss. As you know, comfort for a premature baby is another important condition for the normal development, along with qualified doctors and modern equipment.
Unfortunately, in Belarus, this practice is still not very common. Not all the hospitals of Minsk have necessary amount of covers. In the regional hospitals of Belarus the situation is even worse. Meanwhile, over the past year in our country 5023 premature babies were born.
Expert help
Online consultations for parents of premature babies. Providing the necessary advice about special care (in hospital + home after discharge) and other relevant issues online and over the phone.
Growing together
Special lessons for parents of premature babies aged from birth to 3 years on which they can learn about early development of babies and how to care for him. They will learn about specific needs, risks, and areas of special attention in psychomotor and emotional development after discharge from the hospital, especially how to feed their babies and other important practical issues of parenting a premature baby.
Support group “Mint tea”
The support group for parents of premature babies and their families. The main goal of this group is to prevent burnout and to increase resistance to stress; giving parents some confidence, and possibility to release their negative emotions (feelings of guilt, sadness, etc.). This group is also going to support psychologically families and parents of premature babies who have lost children at birth or within a few days after.
This is only a general view of the actual problem. We are pleased to answer all of your questions in person or over the phone.
We will be very happy to cooperate with all who are willing to help and we will be grateful for any means of support or help. Moreover, we want to believe that together we will be able to cope with all the problems.
This information is based on materials from www.efcni.org