The Letaba Hospital hosted the World Prematurity Awareness Day last week Wednesday. The Limpopo Health Department commemorated the day with the theme, “Zero separation act now, keep parents and babies born too soon together”.The special occasion was attended by admitted mothers who gave birth to premature babies, former premature babies themselves, health workers and the MEC for health, Dr Phopi Ramathuba.

“Every child deserves to be given a chance to live, even if the mother of the child does not want to keep the baby. “Health practitioners should do their utmost best in order to give these children a chance to live. “I know sometimes nurses give up because of a lack of resources, especially in the rural areas, but I want to emphasise that premature babies should be be given a chance,” she said.

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Ramathuba appealed to the admitted mothers to follow the nurses’ instructions to focus on caring for the child and not stress about their partners who they left at home. She also condemned fathers who are not involved in raising their children and those who are not consciously helping the mothers with the day to day routine of a growing baby.

Dr Lehumo Makwela, the head of the paediatric ward, said one of the most common questions he is asked by mothers of premature babies, is whether their babies will live. He said that his team saw it befitting to celebrate the day, as the neonatal ward is a restricted area which can be very frustrating for both mothers and fathers of the babies because they have limited access. The mothers were presented gifts by the neonatal ward.