From a premature baby to a medical doctor: Save the Children and Partners mark Newborn Health Month and World Prematurity Day

Abeba Mengesha, 24, was born premature. She is now a medical doctor working as a lecturer at Adigrat University.

We met Dr Abeba on November 17, 2016 at the World Prematurity Day Celebrations organized by the Ministry of Health, Save the Children and other partners. She was one of the speakers at the event raising awareness on prematurity. 

Speaking at the event, she said, “I was told I was born preterm, at the time I weighed only 1,000 grams. Because of my condition, many people including my own mother were worried that I may not survive. Some people even advised my mother not to worry too much about me and not to waste too much time taking care of me.  In our community there is a misconception about preterm babies. Most people think that premature babies will not survive or even if they do, they will not be successful in life. This is because they lack awareness. As history tells us, people like Albert Einstein, the renowned Physicist, Issac Newton, a Mathematician, Astronomer and Physicist and Charles Darwin were among those born premature and were very successful and one of the most gifted people who had ever lived in this world”

This year, World Prematurity Day was celebrated globally for the ninth time and for the third time in Ethiopia. The event to mark the day included a media roundtable organized by the Ministry of Health and Save the Children which saw attendance from over 20 journalists.  The roundtable raised the awareness and knowledge of the media practitioners on newborn care and child health.  An overview of the status of newborn and child health care in Ethiopia was also presented followed by a discussion with the journalists.

Every year in Ethiopia, around 320,000 babies are born prematurely (before 37 weeks of gestation). That is one in every 10 births – and the number is increasing. Studies also show that 44% of all under-five deaths in Ethiopia take place within the first 28 days of after birth and, unlike the under-five mortality rate; the new born mortality rate did not show significant reduction over the past 15 years.

Save the children has been key player in the national newborn health including addressing prematurity for the last decade. Our Saving Newborn Lives (SNL) program and Community Based Intervention for New Born in Ethiopia (COMBINE) have also generated local evidence in addressing key causes of newborn death at community level by Health Extension Workers.  

We also still generate evidences in service availability and facility readiness for premature babies.