Cape Town - Snuggling up comfortably between his mother’s breasts, Lindokuhle Nofemele’s tiny fingers wander over her chest.
When he was born at Groote Schuur Hospital last month, he was so small one could see through his semi-transparent skin.
His mother, Natasha Nofemele, vividly remembers the day she gave birth to him. “I was not sure whether to be excited or sad when I saw him for the first time. He was so small and fragile that I could see and count the blood veins under his translucent skin. Part of me was very hurt that he came so early, but I had to be strong to care for him,” she recalled.
Born at only 28 weeks and weighing just over 1.4kg, little Lindokuhle has grown so much in the past five weeks at Groote Schuur Hospital’s Neonatal Unit that he is almost ready to go home to Gugulethu .
On Tuesday November 17, Lindokuhle and millions of premature babies will be celebrated around the world as part of the World Prematurity Day.
Over 60 countries will join in the celebrations, raising awareness about the global health problems of pre-term birth, the needs of prematurely born babies, and cost-effective interventions to address this global health problem. In South Africa, one in seven babies is born prematurely.
Although the incidence of premature birth is increasing worldwide, in general people know very little about this phenomenon. To celebrate the day, Groote Schuur Hospital – which cares for about 3 200 premature babies or eight percent of the province’s newborn babies – will be hosting a flash mob forming a big purple heart on the hospital’s grounds.
All premature babies and staff from the neonatal unit will be dressed in purple to mark the day as part of the fundraising campaign for revamping the unit. The hospitals will be selling purple stickers for R10 each.
Purple is associated with the skin colour of premature babies.
The trust is hoping to raise R26 million to expand the cash-trapped unit and upgrade its lifesaving equipment.
Julie Gibson, manager of the Newborns Groote Schuur Trust, the fundraising arm of the neonatal unit, said the unit hadn’t matched the increased rate of preterm births in recent years, resulting in overcrowding and risking infection in underdeveloped babies.The hospital intended to double the size of the unit.
Nofemele, 20, recalled that while it was a shock to have a premature birth, the care she received had made her job as mother easy.
“I was very scared, but the staff here was great. My son was so small…I thought I would break his tiny bones, but thanks to staff in this unit, I will soon be going home with a healthy baby,” she said.
Cape Argus