Kangaroo care is one of the ways of nurturing an underweight newborn. PHOTO | FILE
Summary
- A measuring card developed by Makerere University researchers uses foot length to determine the weight of the newborn.
- The card is now being used by village health officers in Eastern Uganda, to capture the progress of babies born at home after its reliability was ascertained.
- The invention will come handy in reducing the number of babies dying from complications related to low birth weight.
Shandi Mwamadi, an 18-year-old mother has to direct full attention to her infant, born prematurely several weeks ago.
A
village health officer checking on newborns at the remote area of
Iganga District in Uganda, where Ms Mwamadi lives, examines her progress
and that of her child.
As part of this, the officer carefully places the foot of Ms Mwamadi’s baby against a measuring card to determine its weight.
As
it turns out, the baby’s foot is below the red line drawn on the
measuring card, meaning that the infant is underweight and must be put
under intensive care.
The measuring card is the
invention of a group of researchers including Peter Waiswa and Elizabeth
Nabiwemba from Makerere University, Public Health, and College of
Health Sciences. The card uses the length of the foot to determine the
weight of the baby.
The simple method is now being used
by village health officers in Eastern Uganda, to capture the progress
of babies born at home after its reliability was ascertained.
A
similar method has been applied in Southern Tanzania to identify
underweight babies born at home. The researchers said the method was
“moderately reliable” where a large number of births occur at home and
weighing scales are not available.
A
study published in August 2014 by the researchers implementing the
method said that although the newborn’s foot length is not the best
anthropometric proxy for birthweight, the process is simple enough to
be conducted at home and is vital in the first days of a newborn when
the chances of death are highest.
Latest Uganda
Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) indicates that about 27 per cent of
Ugandan women still give birth at home and without the help of skilled
health providers. The study also indicates that 27 per cent of infants
die within the first month after birth.
The weighing
method will therefore come handy in reducing the number of babies dying
from complications related to low birth weight (under 2.5 kilogrammes).
Underweight
babies are as a result of various factors including multiple births,
teenage pregnancy, mother’s ill-health, poor nutrition and abuse of
drugs.
“In Uganda a considerable number of women still
give birth at home and these infants are at risk of dying from
complications that could have been noted had they been born at a health
facility where low birth weight is captured in good time and measures
for intensive care are taken,” said Dr. Elizabeth Nabiwemba, a
researcher and lecturer at the school of Public Health, College of
Health Sciences.
“After a number of tests, foot length
became the best proxy for low birth weight as its reliability was 85 per
cent. It is also a simple idea to borrow and implement anywhere in the
world where health systems have not reached the grassroots” she said.
The
foot length measuring card is light to carry, cost-effective and now
regarded an easy method to capture newborn’s weight at home.
Dr.
Nabiwemba further noted that village health officers are in touch with
all pregnant women in the areas where they operate. And as soon as
someone gives birth, the officers visit to carry out the procedure,
particularly for home deliveries.
“Where the newborn
is found to have low birth weight they are referred to a health unit
especially where danger signs are present. If a child is not in danger,
the parents are advised on how to care for a child at home including
kangaroo mother care,” she said.
Kangaroo care is a
skin-to-skin method said to have multiple gains for pre-term babies
including enabling them to improve weight gain, regulate their heart
rate and avoid infections.
According
to the World Health Organisation (WHO) low birth weight is the common
cause of newborn mortality and accounts of up to 80 per cent of all
neonatal deaths.
Where the babies are born underweight
in low and middle income families, the WHO recommends kangaroo care,
especially for pre-term babies. The baby also needs to be well fed.
Ms Mwamadiand and her husband Balyglisawa Mwamadi take turns in giving their child kangaroo care.
The baby, born at seven months, was only able to live in the incubator for only a month for lack of cash.
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