NML Issue 11
NMLTT
2021
Protect.
Invest.
Together.
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CHRISTINE OTAI: WINNER: HIHA2021 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Christine looks after premature newborn with Kangaroo Mother Care. Photo by Jonathan Torgovnik.
If there is anyone who deserves this award, it is Christine Otai. We looked up a few things that others have said about her work. In 2014, Debrah Lester, a clinician with 25 years of experience in the field of Maternal and Child Health called Christine a champion for Change. In her blog, Lester wrote: Sister Christine Otai is the manager of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and Maternity departments at Kiwoko Hospital. She has worked at Kiwoko since 1989. The NICU at Kiwoko treats over 750 premature and sick infants, and the maternity ward delivers more than 2,000 babies annually. Christine attends to high-risk deliveries. She utilizes resuscitation techniques, stabilization and safe transfer of newborn infants. She supports initiation of treatment, including complicated intensive therapy in accordance with the agreed guidelines and protocols. Christine guides student nurses practicing in the NICU and Maternity ward, building their confidence and competence in infant and maternal care. She is a qualified trainer in neonatal resuscitation and has been directly involved in the training of over 500 staff, all of whom have the essential skills to impact the first critical moments in an infant’s life. Also under her guidance, Kangaroo Mother Care and other neonatal health interventions have been rolled out at the hospital, with a noticeable reduction in complications for low-birth-weight infants. Just eight years ago, babies weighing 1.0-1.4kg had only a 31% chance of survival. Today, thanks to expert care from Kiwoko staff under Christine’s leadership, these tiny babies now have an 86% chance of survival.
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