Malalai Maternity Hospital: Expanding the reach of Embrace Infant Warmer ahead of the Kabul winter

Introducing Malalai Maternity Hospital. Located in Kabul, it is one of the larger birthing centers in the city and a well recognized name that has survived decades of war. It has been a focus of multiple national and international organizations who recognize the important role it plays in healthcare delivery for the entire region.

The first premature infant placed into the Baby Wrap

Along with our partners at Embrace, we have selected Malalai as the second site to host the use of Embrace Nest. This is the first step of our efforts this fall to counter infant hypothermia before the onset of the harsh winter. Embrace is ideal for the setting; it provides constant heat to vulnerable low-birth-weight and premature newborns in a region where supplies are scarce and infant mortality among the highest in the world. At each site, the Embrace program is accompanied by training of mothers and care-givers in community-based hypothermia prevention measures.

Training session for doctors and nurses of Malalai Maternity Hospital

Our initial site at Rabia Balkhi Hospital (click here for the story) has seen a great benefit from the 10 units in use there since April of this year, with over 2,000 infants treated. Malalai will also start with 10 units in full-time use, with an anticipated increase in the number of units in the future. 

 

All photos are the property of HED-A and Embrace, please do not reproduce without placing a formal request and written consent. 

Infant Warmers Have Their Impact at RBH

Since its launch in late March of this year, the Embrace Nest has provided a crucial defense against infant hypothermia in Kabul's Rabia Balkhi Hospital. Afghanistan has some of the worst infant mortality rates in the world according to the World Health Organization. With the help of our partners, we are helping take small steps that will have substantial impacts. In Afghanistan's resource deprived setting, innovative technology and dedicated people can make the difference. Click here to learn more about the technology used by Embrace.

Meela Sarwar, far right, Site Manager for our Embrace program at RBH introduces the infant warmers to hospital staff.

The first of the newborns to benefit from the Embrace Nest, triplets born at the RBH maternity ward.

As previously mentioned, this is a pilot program with only a limited number of units currently in use with the expectation that the program will expand to at least 3 other public hospitals in the area later this summer. Our goal is to have maximum number of units in place and actively in use before the next harsh Afghan winter later this year. In less thank one month so far, a total of 26 infants have been cared for in the Embrace Nest. 

Embracing

3/30/12

Today was a very interesting day.  I had the privilege of going to a hospital in Kabul with my aunt to distribute incubators provided by an organization called Embrace.  The hospital that we went to was the first of four on my aunt’s list to receive these incubators that will save the lives of countless children. These incubators are small and portable and come with a heating pad that you heat up for 30 minutes in the AccuTemp heater and slip into the pouch of a special blanket/babywrap, which will keep an infant warm for 4-6 hours.  It’s absolutely genius and I’m so proud of my aunt for all the work she’s put into this project. I know first hand how hard she’s worked because I’ve been helping her out a bit while I’ve been here.

This first hospital is called Rabia Balkhi and to be quite honest, it’s a bit dilapidated.  The structure is old, equipment is pretty outdated and it seems as though they might be a bit understaffed at times. I have visited the hospital twice before and this was my third time seeing some of the struggles the staff face. They have so many patients to take care of and one of their major problems is the deaths of these newborn infants.  Not only Rabia Balkhi, but Afghanistan as a whole has quite a high mortality rate for infants and according to a couple of the nurses there premature births are pretty common.  So what these incubators will do is keep the infants warm and fight against things like hypothermia, which plays a huge role in the deaths of these infants. 

Being there for the training of the hospital staff on how to use these incubators was an extremely amazing experience for me and I’m very happy that I got to help in the process (I was the photographer and transported the bags containing the incubators).  This was definitely an experience I’ll never forget and I hope that these incubators will be a success.  

These are photos of my aunt introducing the incubators and instructing a couple of nurses on how to use the Accutemp heater/blanket.