When miss Mahawa came to the hospital in the 30th week of her second pregnancy, she was immediately admitted. She was suffering from a dangerously high blood pressure and swollen feet, signs of pre-eclampsia. With this disease it is critical that the mother delivers in time, before she gets serious seizures. But the problem was that her baby was way too small to be born. Mahawa received medication to help the lungs of the baby develop faster and medications to protect her and the unborn baby’s brain from the effects of pre-eclampsia.
When Mahawa’s health was not improving, we decided to induce labor. She delivered a baby boy of 1.6 kg. Mother and baby both needed extensive care after the delivery. The baby was too small to suck and to keep himself warm. He was put in an incubator and the nurses fed him every two hours to help him grow stronger. To let mother and baby bond, skin to skin contact, also called kangaroo mother care, was stimulated. Happily, Mahawa’s blood pressure dropped to normal levels and soon enough her baby was strong enough to breastfeed. After four weeks in the hospital they were ready to go home.
