Members of the Tshwane District Hospital Board
Head of the Gauteng Department of Health and Social Development, Dr Nomonde Xundu
Senior Managers from the Health Programmes Chief Directorate
CEO and Managers of the Tshwane District Hospital
Government has prioritised decreasing of infant mortality as one of the goals we have to attain in order to meet the Millennium Development Goals.
The programme we are launching today is called Kangaroo Mother Care. I will not bore you with the historical origins of the name of this programme.
What I need to point out however is the undeniable fact that this is not new to Africa. Skin to Skin contact between mothers and their newly born babies is not something new to our African culture. How we carry our newly born babies is what makes us unique as African women.
This has not only been helpful in accelerating growth of underweight infants, this also assists in maximising bonding between the mother and the child.
Programme Director,
This programme was officially launched in Sebokeng hospital in 2002. At the time we were struggling with a high number of infants whom we lost due to their low birth weight.
Factors such as staff shortages and unavailability of appropriate equipment forced us to think outside of the box. It was therefore appropriate that we piloted this programme knowing very well that it would be received without cultural impediments because our communities were amenable to carrying newly born infants in a manner that as proposed by the proponents of Kangaroo Mother Care.
The point I am therefore making is that we are reinvigorating caring practices that were prevalent before modernity set in Africa. The emphasis on Skin to Skin contact between Mother and Infant should also be extended to partners of these mothers as it accelerates bonding and highlights the role of both parents in early involvement in parenting.
I will therefore take this opportunity to encourage fathers to be involved in Kangaroo Mother Care.
Fathers who have participated in this programme attest to bonding with their babies in a manner which they had never imagined. Moreover, it does not need additional expenses; all it needs is time and availability.
This is the most natural way of facilitating growth of infants who are born prematurely. As it has been stated 23 of our hospitals which offer maternal services are already implementing this programme.
I hope that by the end of the next financial year, this programme will be available at all 25 hospitals which offer maternal services.
I am actually pleased that Tshwane District hospital has also reached this milestone. All of our hospitals should keep it at the back of their minds that services they render contribute towards attainment of Millennium Development Goals.
The resources that we have at our disposal as Gauteng should match our health outcomes. It is therefore not correct that avoidable maternal and infant deaths should still occur at our facilities.
Implementation of the Save the Mothers and Babies Report remains non-negotiable. This includes ensuring that our health professionals follow all protocols in delivery of babies. Pregnancy and child birth are natural phenomena; therefore there should be minimal deaths to pregnant mothers and their newly born babies.
This is a commitment that we have made as a country, and we owe it to pregnant mothers and their newly born babies to ensure that they have confidence that as soon as they are admitted at our facilities both of them will be discharged alive.
I thank you.
