Saving vulnerable newborns and strengthening health systems in the Gaza Strip
UNICEF and partner support leads to gains in newborn survival rates in Al Emirati Hospital
Asma Abu Zuhri longed for a baby for many years. She became a first-time mother at the age of 42, giving birth to baby Karim. Asma had a difficult pregnancy, her health suffered, and she experienced a sudden increase in blood pressure, which posed a danger to the baby’s life.
Karim was born prematurely, he weighed just 1,700 grams. His immune system was weak, and he contracted septicemia, a serious bloodstream infection. It occurs when a bacterial infection enters the bloodstream. One of Karim’s lungs collapsed, and he needed intensive care.
A large percentage of infant deaths occur during the first 28 days of life mainly due to three causes: prematurity, respiratory infections, and congenital malformations. In the Gaza Strip, the neonatal mortality rate is 8.8 deaths per 1,000 live births, more than double the rate of high-income countries.1
In many cases, these deaths can be reduced through quality health care for mothers and newborns, early detection of children with disabilities, and intervention services for difficult cases.
Strengthening maternal and neonatal care
Al-Emirati Hospital is one of the most important maternity hospitals in Rafah city, in the south of the Gaza Strip. Around 500 babies are born in this hospital each month. Ten per cent of them require special care and admission to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The hospital faced many challenges due to the high volume of deliveries taking place and the limited hospital equipment and staff capacity.
"Before, we were suffering a big problem to accommodate the number of deliveries,” says Dr. Mohammed Al Hams, Head of the Maternity Ward Department at the Al-Emirati Hospital.
“Straightforward deliveries already used the entire space in the maternity ward, as a result, we struggled to accommodate the difficult cases. Sometimes we needed to place two newborns in one incubator to save the babies’ lives. We also needed to transfer some newborns to other hospitals because of our limited space,” he added.
Following maternity department rehabilitation and the prevention of critical equipment such as incubators and medicines improved newborn care. Furthermore, the training that was provided for health professionals working in the maternity ward, neonatal unit, and primary health care, which aided in the hospital's transition from level 1 to level 3 NICU, allowing the hospital to welcome more babies and treat almost every critical condition that was presented as well as taking cases from other hospitals.
The training strengthened health workers’ capacity to deliver a continuum of maternal and newborn health care throughout pregnancy, childbirth, the neonatal and postnatal period. The training covered neonatal protocols and early essential newborn care. This helped to improve the quality of health services available to babies and mothers.
UNICEF is now creating a baby and mother-friendly room with an area of around 80 m2 to include seven recliner chairs and baby cot sets with two bathrooms. New air conditioning was installed for maternity operation rooms to improve working conditions for the health professionals as they provide care for vulnerable newborns.
Improvements in child survival rates
After the rehabilitation, the hospital recorded an improvement in the survival rate for newborn children.
In addition, the Al-Emirati Hospital now receives many transfers of complicated newborn cases from other hospitals due to their increased capacity. Thanks to the investments in neonatal healthcare, Karim had an incubator, and the equipment and medicines needed to save his life.
Karim stayed in the NICU for 17 days under medical care until he fully recovered. Today, Karim is 6 months old and weighs 6 kilograms. He is in very good health.
"I always knew that our medical staff were under great pressure and did not have the necessary equipment. After seeing the wonderful effort made by the team at the Al-Emirati Hospital and equipment and space, I knew we were in safe hands. I became reassured about my baby’s future,” said Asma.
Strengthening health system in the Gaza Strip has been supported by the Governments of Japan, the French Development Agency (AFD), and UNICEF Regular Resources that are among the most flexible resources UNICEF has at its disposal to fill critical gaps and address priorities for children and mothers on the ground.
