Welcome to the Brockmeyer Foundation
for the health of newborns, children and young adults

Focus: Ensuring the survival of low birth weight (preterm) infants

Since 2018, the Brockmeyer Foundation has been supporting the establishment of a care unit for low birth weight (preterm) babies and their mothers at Lugala Hospital in Tanzania.

We also support the training of obstetricians and nurses in the care unit and in the 12 village health posts in the region in the kangaroo mother care (KMC) method.

Geographic focus and target groups

The project focuses on the Malinyi district (Morogoro region) in southeastern Tanzania, one of the largest countries in East Africa.

The district includes about 33 villages. The residents receive medical care from the Lugala Hospital, two health centers and fourteen dispensaries (health posts). About 160,000 people live in the catchment area of the Lugala Hospital. About 6,000 children are born annually in the district, of which about 2,000 are born at Lugala Hospital.

The preterm infant unit has a team of seven nurses who work three daily shifts to care for the unit around the clock.

The low birth weight (preterm) infants ward

The low birth weight (preterm) infant unit at Lugala Hospital is a success story. When it opened in July 2019, the unit had five beds. But after just a few days, two more beds had to be added, and later mattresses.

Today, the small ward is already at full capacity and urgently needs to be expanded. On average, there are currently about 20 preterm babies in the care unit at the same time as their mothers. Between 40 and 45 preterm babies are treated per month. The ward is now equipped with many necessary devices that can ensure the survival of preterm babies: Suction devices for lung secretions, oxygen concentrators, but also with a ventilator for preterm babies (so-called CPAP device). A phototherapy device for the treatment of jaundice is also used.

The kangaroo mother care (KMC) method

The Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) method for preterm and low birth weight infants is an evidence-based and cost-effective child health intervention that meets national and international standards. KMC helps to reduce neonatal mortality and chronic morbidity. (Improving the implementation of kangaroo mother care. Bull World Heatlh Organ 2021;99:69-71).

Because modern incubators are scarce in most of the world's poor countries, physician Edgar Rey Sanabria, a professor of neonatology in Colombia, developed a method to mitigate the lack of incubators and other technical resources.

This involves the mother carrying the baby in direct skin-to-skin contact for as many hours as possible. In this way, the mother's body heat can prevent the child's impending hypothermia. Scientific studies have shown the effectiveness of this method. The breathing movements of the mother's chest stimulate the newborn's breathing. This reduces the risk of respiratory arrest episodes in preterm babies, whose lungs are often still poorly developed.

Facts and figures

Low birth weight and preterm births are associated with high mortality. 16 percent of all babies in Tanzania are born with low birth weight. Of the 45,000 newborns who die each year in Tanzania, 86 percent have low birth weight and 27 percent are preterm. Fifty percent of all newborn deaths occur in the first 24 hours after birth, while 75 percent die within the first week of life. 48 percent of the Malinyi district population is under 15 years of age.

The official under mortality rate of children younger than5 year in Tanzania is 54 per 1,000 live births, of which 50 percent die in the first month of life. In Germany, the infant mortality rate is 3.3 per 1,000 live births.

Projects

Establishment of a ward for preterm babies (Kangaroo Mother Care) (2018 - 2019)

Expansion of the station through new construction and training of employees (2020 - 2021)

Acquisition of microscopes for the training of clinical officers (2022)

Expansion of neonatal health projects to the Morogoro region (2022 - 2023)

Foundation details

Foundation: 25.11.2016 by Carola Hellmold-Brockmeyer and Carsten Brockmeyer

Legal form: The Brockmeyer Foundation is a trust foundation under the umbrella of the foundation Stifter für Stifter (Foundation Stifter für Stifter, Landshuter Allee 11, 80637 Munich, Germany)

Tax number: 143/235/05749 Munich tax office, notice of exemption dated 15.02.2019

Board of directors: Carola Hellmold-Brockmeyer, Carsten Brockmeyer

Contact

Would you like to support the goals of the foundation permanently and make an endowment to the foundation's assets?
Do you have questions about our sponsorship projects?
Please feel free to contact us!

Brockmeyer Stiftung
c/o Haus des Stiftens
Landshuter Allee 11
80637 München
Germany