World Patient Safety Day 17-9: Nurturing life for newborns

The first medicine in life is love

More than 2 months ago, a baby boy was transferred from Ba Ria Hospital to Children's Hospital 2 in Ho Chi Minh City right after birth. Born prematurely at 27 weeks, weighing only 840g, the patient suffered from infection, pneumonia and enteritis. The baby's mother, Ms. Truong Ngoc Quyen, lived in constant wait every day to visit her son. She tried to save her milk, providing nutrition and strength for her son in the early stages of his life.

“Now my baby weighs 1.7kg and is ready to be discharged home with his parents. At first, he was fed through a tube, I was under a lot of pressure because he was so small, I was afraid of hurting him. Luckily, the nurses and doctors took care of him, encouraged him, and guided him step by step to get to today's results,” Ms. Quyen said emotionally.

Looking affectionately at his 27-week-old premature daughter in the incubator, Mr. Nguyen Van Mien ( Dong Thap province) said that the baby had just undergone surgery for a perforated stomach when she weighed only 600g. This is also the lightest case in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at present. After 2 weeks of special treatment and careful nutritional care, the baby's condition is getting better and better.

“Because we had three premature babies, my wife and I had to take turns taking care of them. Every day, my wife pumped milk and I brought it to the hospital to give to the babies. The doctors encouraged and cared a lot because taking care of three premature babies at the same time is not easy. My wife and I are very grateful to the doctors and nurses for giving the premature babies a chance to live a better life,” Mr. Mien was moved.

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Children’s Hospital 2 in Ho Chi Minh City currently cares for about 25 children. Most of them are premature, underweight, and children with congenital diseases. Premature birth is the leading cause of death for children under 5 years old. The battle for premature babies is fierce, as they depend on many factors to fight for their lives. The hospital stay of children often lasts from several weeks to several months, even a year.

Efforts for newborns and premature babies

According to Dr. Nguyen Thanh Thien, Head of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Children's Hospital 2, Ho Chi Minh City, the development of medicine as well as the constant efforts of doctors and nurses have saved the lives of hundreds of newborns and improved the quality of pediatric care in recent years. In particular, less invasive respiratory support and more complete intravenous nutrition, giving babies breast milk earlier, and being hugged more often by relatives have brought about clear values.

Medical staff at Children's Hospital 1, Ho Chi Minh City, take care of premature, underweight or congenitally ill babies.

At Children's Hospital 1 in Ho Chi Minh City, the Neonatal Intensive Care Center has a scale of 150 beds, meeting the standards of level 4 neonatal resuscitation (the highest level according to international standards), always has over 200 children being cared for and treated with complex diseases. The center is developing diagnostic and treatment techniques at the regional level, completing all diagnostic and treatment techniques for newborns and neonatal resuscitation, aiming to successfully treat premature babies of all gestational ages, increasing the survival rate for the group with extremely low gestational age.

According to Master-Doctor-CKII Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, Deputy Director of Children's Hospital 1, Ho Chi Minh City, although the health of newborns is the number one priority, the hospital also pays great attention to the physical and mental health of the mother. Pressure can cause the mother to lose milk, affecting the child's upbringing in the early stages of life, especially important for premature and low birth weight babies. Therefore, the hospital's improvements are always aimed at helping newborns recover and develop best.

In 2025, through the theme “Safe care for every newborn and child” of World Patient Safety Day, the World Health Organization calls on parents, caregivers, educators , health workers, and communities to join hands to prevent avoidable harm in pediatric care and build a safer and healthier future for children.

GIAO LINH

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/ngay-an-toan-nguoi-benh-the-gioi-17-9-nuoi-duong-su-song-cho-tre-so-sinh-post813326.html