Regina Obeng

Regina Obeng. 

In the late 1980's Regina Obeng visited a premature baby unit in Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH)  in Kumasi, Ghana. She observed that many premature babies, shortly after feeding, stopped breathing, turned blue, and died. The death of these babies was so common that mothers were asked not to mourn the loss of their infant because it is such a common occurrence and not a big deal. She asked the matron in charge if she could nurse the babies and try to figure out the problem. She was grated permission and with nothing but her midwifery license, she began her research. With only her keen interest and dedication she began attending workshops and learning from pediatricians she worked with. It didn't take long for Regina's soothing presence to make her a leader in neonate care. She has raised awareness all over Ghana that infant death is not inevitable. Obeng wants to promote the neonate specialty to the schools in Ghana so that more will become interested in this special program and help out with the constant demand of neonatal specialists. 

This article really struck home for me because I would like to do Neonatal care and know of the advancement in medicine we have had to make Infant mortality one of the lowest in the world. I was absolutely horrified when I read that the doctors were actually asking the mothers not to mourn the death of their infant because it is so common and not a big deal. What a difference in cultures! This is just something I'm going to have to learn to keep to myself no matter what the situation is. I can't even imagine a kind of world where the mourning over a newborn doesn't occur because of the normality. By researching in Ghana I hope to get a first hand account of the neonatal care. By comparing and contrasting the difference in methods used I can assess where the infant mortality rate is the lowest and how the difference in settings affects delivery and neonatal care.