While we in Canada have our own struggles with the problems of prematurity, in developing countries the outcomes for premature babies and their families are far bleaker. Staff members from Sunnybrook’s NICU volunteer their time on international projects to help babies and families achieve their best possible futures. As part of our lead up to World Prematurity day, we’d like to share this article from our Women and Babies newsletter about the contributions of one of our staff members, Amanda Squires.
Amanda Squires gets excited about helping people as much as she does about traveling. And last November she got to do both. With the help of organizations Tiny People Matter and Helping Babies Breathe, this avid scuba-diver and underwater photographer was able to go to Africa for two weeks. But she didn’t have time for her hobbies. Her trip was to Zambia, where she trained medical staff in resuscitating babies who are born in resource-limited medical clinics or village homes.
As a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner at Sunnybrook, Amanda’s specialization is in resuscitating high-risk, premature and extremely low weight infants. Going to Africa wasn’t her first time travelling to help others. In both Saudi Arabia and Ukraine she implemented a Neonatal Resuscitation Program for local medical staff. “However, regular neo-natal resuscitation programs are good for hospitals which have equipment,” explains Amanda, “but will not help nurses in clinics where the equipment necessary isn’t available.”
And that is the goal envisioned by the designers of “Helping Babies Breathe”. The program was developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization, in keeping with their millennium goal of lowering infant mortality worldwide by 2015. Resuscitation is taught using a self-inflating resuscitation bag without oxygen, and can be performed when high-end equipment isn’t available.
It was at the “Helping Babies Breathe” training session that Amanda met the founder of “Tiny People Matter,” the organization which later facilitated her travel to Zambia with a group of North American medical professionals. In the cities of Lusaka and Ndola, they trained staff in several hospitals, orphanages, clinics, and a midwifery school. Local staff were also taught how to train others, and were provided with the necessary training materials.
During her stay, she was greatly inspired by the optimism of the Zambian people. She recounts the remarkable story of a woman who had no choice but to take her 25 week-old baby home due to limited incubator space. “She actually kept the baby on her all the time, and she dripped milk from the breast into the baby’s mouth until the baby got better; it was complete kangaroo care. (…) She kept the baby alive and she was so proud.” Kangaroo care, also known as skin-to-skin contact, is recommended by Sunnybrook staff as the optimal care for premature infants; and in this case, it insured the baby’s survival.
She was also in awe at the camaraderie developing among her colleagues as they worked together. And she speaks just as highly about the Sunnybrook NICU team, where she values the cohesiveness of the staff and the fact that everyone here is passionate about what they do.
Her experience abroad is invaluable in helping Canadian families and refugees coming from Zambia. “Understanding where people come from I know how to approach them, I understand better what are those things that really affect them, and that helps me to do my work here.”
“I love what I do, I love my job,” she says passionately, “but I also want to go to the frontiers.” And discovering a different kind of frontline is where Amanda’s generous and adventurous spirit will take her to next. She has already returned to Zambia this fall along with one of her unit colleagues, next year she is going to India, and one day she hopes to organize her own trip with her fellow colleagues to Namibia.
Did you know that more than a million babies die each year because of breathing difficulties at birth? Find out more by visiting the Helping Babies Breathe website.
