The end of the year is usually a period of excitement. The Christmas festivities end up with people happily planning their activities for the coming year.It should be even more joyful if a family has a newborn around this time.For two families,this excitement was nearly marred.
On the 31st of December, a call came through to NNSS office from the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital with a referral case of 14 days old baby named Baby Naomi who was suffering from a heart defect and a 12 hours of life baby named Baby Diana who was also suffering from a total abdominal wall defect to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi.
This referral,covering a distance of nearly 550 km by road was necessary because not all facilities in the country have the capacity to deal with such complex situations.
They called the ambulance but at the arrival of the ambulance, the parents of both babies could not afford the amount for the transportation the ambulance charged.
Not many families in Africa are in the position to incur a cost of nearly $300 just for the transport of their newborn baby.It appeared the fate of these babies was sealed. Someone had to act…and act fast.
So with the core mandate and the aim and objectives for the
establishment of NNSS Ghana and the Olsson grant, a grant set up by NNSS Ghana to support needy babies in time of emergency and with the help of other partners the bill was settled and immediately the ambulance took off to Kumasi. Communication was further enhanced as both the Bolgatanga hospital and the Komfo Anokye Hospital are connected to our network.
A follow up was made by NNSS Ghana to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital to check on the condition of the babies and God being so good, Baby Naomi was in a stable condition whiles Baby Diana was at the theatre for surgery at the time of our visit. It is our prayer that both babies survive.
We at NNSS Ghana wish to congratulate the doctors and nurses of KATH for the good work they are doing for our babies.
The feasibility and sustainability of paying such huge amounts may be questioned in some quarters.We agree on the need to build sustainable schemes.But we believe no investment is wasted if it is made for a newborn.We are grateful to Mr Anders Olsson for funding our work and helping save these wonderful babies.
Our babies deserve to live for we do not know what they will become tomorrow. Save a baby today. Send “Donate” to Tigo short code 5434 (in Ghana only)and contribute Ghc 1 to save a life of a baby. It’s your duty, it’s my duty and it’s our duty to save our babies.
# NNSS Ghana: Ensuring newborn survival.
(We are unable to upload the children of the babies since they are very ,very sensitive pictures)