New day lounge for nursing mothers |07 August 2019

The day lounge facility will encourage bonding between mothers and babies especially if the latter have to stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit after birth

The first day lounge facility for nursing mothers on maternity ward 2 will officially open this coming Friday at the Seychelles Hospital by representatives of the Ministry of Health and the Health Care Agency.

It will form part of the activities to commemorate World Breastfeeding Week 2019.

The lounge is an achievement under the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Plan of Action 2019-2020 for Health, funded by the Health Care Agency and the Soroptimist Club of Victoria.

In attendance will be some high management and other staff of the Ministry of Health, health partners and sponsors. The official opening will be done by Kathleen Cecile, deputy chief executive of the Health Care Agency

The aim of setting up this facility is to ensure the comfort of nursing mothers after delivery whose babies are in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Every year, an average of 1,600 babies are born in Seychelles, and, after two to three days most mothers and their babies are discharged to go home. However, babies born prematurely or with health complications are admitted into the NICU, where the length of stay is prolonged, sometimes up to an average of 90 days, while their mothers are discharged to go home. During this period, bonding between mothers and babies is extremely crucial, and, the mothers are encouraged to visit and spend time with their newborn baby on a daily basis to promote quick recovery.

Unfortunately, at the moment there is no appropriate facility to accommodate the mothers during these visits, considering that they also still need to rest and recover from the processes of pregnancy and delivery. The lounge will therefore provide a clean, private and comfortable space not only for the mothers, but also for fathers who wish to support their wives or partners and babies.