Today, Baby Ivy Chiromo* is going home. We have been with Baby Ivy since she was born 3 months ago as a preterm with severe respiratory distress. Her mother has been through it all, collapsed baby needing resuscitation, apneic attacks, jaundice, neonatal sepsis..basically everything that could go wrong...yet here she is going home, with a satisfactory 1.8kg baby girl. There are many challenges at my hospital. We don't always have all the basic medicine, sometimes we cannot transfuse a baby because there is not enough blood or we need surgery that cannot be performed in the country. It is frustrating to know what is needed and yet unable to provide it. So, on a day like this where it is good news you realize that it is all worth it. Just because Baby Ivy is going home it does not mean that the journey is over. Looking after a preterm at home can be just as challenging. She will need what we called Kangaroo Care. Yes, just like the kangaroos Down Under. Even Father's
Diaries of a Media Medic..