Kangaroo care unit opens at JPMC

Kangaroo care involves placing a newborn on the mother's bare chest for direct skin-to-skin contact

KARACHI:

A Kangaroo Medical Care Unit was officially inaugurated at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) to provide essential and free medical services to expectant mothers and premature babies throughout Sindh.

The inaugural ceremony of the Kangaroo Mother Care Unit at the JPMC was attended by distinguished medical practitioners and government officials, including Prof Shahid Rasool, Head of JPMC, Nighat Shah, Head of the Gynaecology Department, and Tariq Rafi, Chairman of the Sindh Higher Education Commission.

According to medical experts, the Kangaroo mother care approach offers an important opportunity to reduce the mortality rate of premature infants.

Kangaroo care is when a new born child is held to the mother's bare chest to have direct skin-to-skin contact.

The baby is held upright with head to one side between the mother's breasts, one hand should support the baby's head and the other over their bottom. The child's father or caregiver can also provide this treatment.

This approach involves not only keeping the baby warm with a blanket but also fostering early, crucial contact between the mother and the infant by skin-to-skin contact.

This contact enhances the emotional bond between the two and aids the baby in regulating its body temperature. With the establishment of these units, advanced and contemporary medical services will become accessible to residents across Sindh.

While commenting on the initiative, Prof Rasool stated that while three gynaecology units were constructed, only two had been activated due to staff shortages at the hospital. However, this issue was addressed a year ago, and since then, these units have made substantial progress, now offering complimentary medical services to expectant mothers in Sindh.

Moreover, the JPMC has also entered into a memorandum of understanding with the University Hospital Birmingham to provide state-of-the-art training to medical professionals. In this context, preparations have been made at the Foreign Office for documenting the work of these doctors.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 4^th, 2023.