Premature Birth, FAME’s Special Care Nursery and a Happy Mama!
Lesika* is a young maasai girl from a village in Ngorongoro, five hours from FAME. She had only been married for a year, and she was excited to be expecting her first child. Her three girl friends were also pregnant, and their due dates were within weeks of each other. She was excited to share this journey with them, and was looking forward to parenting their children together.
“My two friends got their babies in January, and another in February. I was looking forward to my turn! When the stomach pains started, I was very worried. It was not time for the baby to come. I prayed a lot, asking God to save my child.”
Lesika was brought to FAME by her husband and mother-in-law. She had been having excruciating stomach pain for three days. She was only 35 weeks pregnant. Lesika arrived at FAME and after a difficult delivery, gave birth to a son. He was born premature and weighed 2.9 lbs.
The baby was taken to FAME’s Special Care Nursery and put on the continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine, to provide respiratory support. FAME’s Special Care Nursery is well-equipped and provides round-the-clock care for premature babies, as well as babies who have a low birth weight or need care for neonatal health issues. FAME has a team of 17 highly trained nurse-midwives who care for the babies and offer support to the mothers.
FAME had over 100 admissions to the special care nursery last year and is on track to support even more in 2022.
After 32 days, Lesika’s baby was doing great and finally able to breastfeed fully. He was also gaining weight and already up to 3.4 lbs.
“I’m very happy. My husband is happier! I’m thankful to FAME, they have done so much for us. When I came here I was very sick, but now I’m healed and I have my child. I have named him Moses because I like the name. My husband will give him a Maasai name, as that’s the important one!”
“I can’t wait to go home and introduce my son to all my friends! I’m certain when our kids are older they will be the best of friends!”
Moses will need to reach certain milestones before he and Lesika can be allowed to go home. But Lesika enjoys spending time with her son at the maternity ward, and is happy to be a mom.
*While the patients’ name has been changed to protect privacy, permission was secured to share their photos and story with FAME supporters, and to raise awareness of available medical care at FAME Medical.