Controversial Practice Exposed: EFSTH Cramming Three Babies into a Single Incubator
By Mariama Dem
A recent report by the Select Committee on Gender, Children, and Social Welfare has revealed a shocker. Two or three premature babies are crammed in one incubator at the pediatric unit at the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital in Banjul.
The committee embarked on a spot check to the country’s main referral Hospital in Banjul and the Children Center in Bakoteh in February this year to gain first-hand information on the operations of the facilities and the challenges they are faced with.
On Tuesday the 20th of June, the committee laid the report before Parliament for debate and adoption. The document presented exposed shocking practices at the pediatric, maternity and lab wards of the EFSTH.
According to the report, the committee was informed by the Chief Medical Director at the hospital that the situation at the pediatric unit is “unacceptable” because two to three babies are crowded in one incubator.
The standard practice is typically one infant per incubator. This is done to ensure that each baby receives the individualized care and monitoring they require in the controlled environment of the incubator.
Single occupancy helps to minimize the risk of infections, maintain proper temperature and humidity levels, and allow healthcare professionals to closely monitor and provide specialized care to each infant.
However, in certain situations where the need arises, multiple infants may be placed in a single incubator, but this is not the standard practice and is generally avoided unless absolutely necessary.
The report revealed that “The unit has only three incubators and the sanitary conditions there were not satisfactory for human habitation.”
The head of the pediatric ward, the reports said, expresses concerns over the state of her unit, noting that they borrow phototherapy from the Kanifing General Hospital because the pediatric ward has “only one in which three to four babies’ share. There is no bubble breather and the radial warmer which is very important for warming babies is insufficient as the ward is operating with only six”.
The document also revealed that the hemodialysis at the ward is yet to be completed and the only water plant they have is not functioning.