The MOBA-WeyGeyHey 2000 year group in collaboration with the Jay Foundation have footed the bills of some abandoned pre-term babies at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) on Friday, February 18.
A good number of the babies have been abandoned as their parents could not afford the bills, whiles others were due to the nature of the babies at birth as their mothers considered them a curse. An amount of GHC10,471.99 was paid to the unit.
Aside from the payment of bills for these pre-term babies, the foundation donated baby items which summed up to about GHC 15,000 to support the unit.
The items included Newborn Diapers, Kirkland wipes, Cot sheets, Nappy cream, Packs of socks, Huggies wipes, Swaddles, packs of
Hats, Aptamil formula, Body suits with socks, Sleepsuits, bel aqua water, and KMC Kits.
Speaking at the donation, the founder of Jay Foundation Naa Kuokor Mayne-Eghan said “This is just to let people know that pre-maturity is real, it’s not a curse. They shouldn’t stigmatize pre-term babies. If we put in our effort these babies can thrive.”
She continued “they are already struggling through life and all we have to do is to make it easy for them. Jay Foundation is the voice of the speechless so we will do everything to let the word go out, to let people know that babies can even thrive at the gestational age of 24 weeks if they have the needed support.”
“We can push the hospital to let 24 weeks babies thrive. Ridge Hospital mostly get abandoned babies here and so we came here to support them in that light. We wanted these babies to also feel loved. We wanted to bring them items to make them thrive. So, as you can see from the items that we brought, we brought what they will need to thrive. We are here to support parents as well.”
Furthermore, the Head of the unit Dr. Nana Okai Braku extended his profound gratitude to the foundation.
He intimated “on behalf of the whole unit we say a big thank you to MOBA-WeyGey Hey 2000”
He went on to add that “we are trying to bring down the perinatal mortality of 28 gestational age to 27 gestational age of birth to survive.
Outlining some challenges of the unit, he noted “We will say overcrowding is one. When it comes to the patient-nurse ratio it’s alarming. Because one nurse has to see about 6-10 babies at a go which in intensive is very challenging for the survival of the babies. But notwithstanding we are optimizing our game and trying to work with what we have. We have been promised that sooner or later we will get more to complement what we are lacking.”
Since 2019, the Jay Foundation has made several donations to the Neonatal Intensive Care Units of close to ten government hospitals in the country including the Tema General Hospital, Nsawam Hospital, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Shai-Osudoku District Hospital, Keta Hospital amongst others.
The foundation also in 2020, constructed a NICU for the Keta Hospital and is in the process of replicating the same in hospitals across the country.
Last year, Naa Kuorkor Mayne Eghan was awarded the Social Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2022 Humanitarian Awards for Child Protection.
The Humanitarian Awards Global is organized annually to recognize, honor, and celebrate volunteer leaders, NGOs, philanthropists, corporations, and professionals with the aim to advance the importance of their incredible contributions to society.
The project also provides a platform for humanitarians to tell their stories, share their impact, and network with others in the field.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/Mensah Bernice
