Targoviste Maternity Unit receives EUR 23,000 worth of neonatal medical equipment donation

Save the Children Romania and tennis player Sorana Cirstea have endowed the Targoviste Maternity Unit with four vital sign monitors and 12 neonatal infusion pumps worth almost 23,000 euros purchased with the support of the campaigners for the reduction of infant mortality.

"Although the Maternity Unit of the Targoviste County Emergency Hospital provides medical care for preterm infants or infants with various serious pathologies coming from several counties in the South-Muntenia Region, vital medical equipment remains just a promise on paper that is constantly put off by the authorities. On World Prematurity Day, Save the Children offers the Targoviste Maternity Unit medical equipment for the fourth time, enjoying also the presence and extraordinary support of sportswoman Sorana Cirstea," the organization said in a release on Saturday.

According to the cited source, of the 204 maternity hospitals nationwide, Save the Children has offered equipment to 96, seeking to meet the priority needs presented by the doctors the organization works with. Today's donation adds to the 68,865-euro worth of medical equipment the organization has already donated the Targoviste County Emergency Hospital in the past three years.

"Saving premature newborns should be a national priority we should all be aware of. No big victory is possible without good instruments and a team to build with. I'm glad that the doctors, Save the Children and the premature newborns have welcomed me in their team, this is a team for life," said Sorana Cirstea, as cited in the release.

The Targoviste County Emergency Hospital provides medical care to about 2,000 newborns annually; the facility had 237 preterm infants in 2018 and the number of premature newborns in the first six months of this year was 112.

"Constant investment in maternities and neonatal intensive care units is crucial, field data shows that a high number of deaths in newborns are caused by the lack of essential medical equipment. It is important that we bring efficient incubators exactly where they are missing, for birth to no longer be a factor of discrimination in Romania. Save the Children is working shoulder to shoulder with doctors all over the country to fill the chronic shortages exactly where this is most urgent. We are aware that you cannot select what maternity to direct the support for premature newborns to and where you will return later, therefore we strive to reach even the smallest neonatal therapy ward that is in urgent need for investment in vital medical equipment to save premature babies," said Gabriela Alexandrescu, Save the Children Romania executive president.

World Prematurity Day is observed every year on November 17. Initiated by the European Foundation for the Care of Newborn Infants in 2010 and officially marked since 2011, this day aims to raise awareness of the risks posed by preterm birth. Specifically, the purpose of World Prematurity Day is to educate mothers about certain lifestyles that increase the likelihood of preterm birth and to determine the identification of financial resources to provide all maternity units with the necessary equipment for these special children.