Lenmed celebrates milestones of babies born prematurely
The event was attended by babies who were born prematurely and their parents.
Lenmed Randfontein Private Hospital celebrated World Prematurity Day recently which was well attended by mothers and their babies.
World Prematurity Day is observed on November 17 each year and is aimed at raising awareness of preterm birth, as well as the concerns for the babies, as well as their families
Held at the hospital premises, the hospital’s specialist paediatrician Dr Amukelani Mthombeni gave a speech and said the day was also aimed at giving hope.
“Today we are here to celebrate both the babies and their parents who had to fight through a difficult time. You’ve been through the journey. You’ve cried, you’ve prayed and always believed that you would make it. Today was all about you.
“I want mommies to know there is nothing you did wrong, on the contrary, you did all you can for your little one … so well done,” said Dr Mthombeni.
She added that while this may be, there are ways to possibly ensure that a full-term birth is achieved.
She further advised pregnant women to attend their prenatal appointments and visit their gynaecologists. This is to ensure that any issues are picked up on time so that they can be resolved accordingly.
“We must make sure that we see our gynaecologists and do our pap smears. If for example it is found that the cervix doesn’t hold, then this can also be fixed.
“Space in the womb, diabetes, high blood pressure and other infections are some of the contributing factors to premature births as well as problems in the placenta. These can be monitored and we can work around them,” she said and added premature births are no one’s fault as statistics show one out of 10 babies are indeed born prematurely.
