Bafoussam (Cameroon) (AFP)
Lucie Ahanda observes on a mobile phone every movement of her infant, born prematurely and placed in an interactive incubator in a Yaoundé hospital.
"At birth, my baby was only 1.5 kilograms, if it had not been for this incubator, he would have already died", she testifies.
In Cameroon, to cope with neonatal mortality which reaches 28 deaths per 1,000 births, a team of engineers developed three years ago an interactive "Made in Cameroon" incubator, thanks to which parents and doctors can follow in permanently the state of health of premature newborns.
Movements, temperatures, heartbeats, all the vital signs of premature babies are permanently accessible to health personnel and parents.
"We insisted that it be controlled from a laptop", testifies to AFP Serge Armel Njidjou, one of the inventors of this incubator, which has already won numerous awards.
Mrs. Ahanda does not take her eyes off the small screen of her infant, very frail, being fed thanks to a probe in her nose.
In another room, Doctor Anicet Pangop, chief medical officer of the African Genesis Health hospital in Yaoundé, watches the same baby on a telephone.
"This incubator is connected to a camera which allows us to have an eye on the child from our office. If there is a problem, we can easily call a nurse so that he intervenes quickly", assures- he.
"The baby is sleeping right now and he just ate," he says.
In the neonatal department, Voni Simo, who has given birth to premature twins, observes them through a picture window.
"I can't wear them and I miss them a lot. I come to see them every day. But I know they are safe, we take good care of them," she said, as her two babies are screaming.
A young mother closes the door of an incubator where her baby sleeps on September 20, 2021, in Cameroon Daniel Beloumou Olomo AFP
The University Agency for Innovation (AUI), at the origin of this invention, has already sold 18 incubators to public and private hospitals in the country, according to Mr. Njidjou, for a price of around 2 million CFA francs. (around 3,000 euros).
"We have a project with the Ministry of Health to provide hospitals with 1,000 incubators over the next four years," he reports.
Another advantage of this incubator: the battery can be recharged, in addition to the current of the sector, thanks to solar panels, to face the power cuts, frequent in the country.
- "Overwhelmed" -
The company also offers payment facilities for health centers, by staggering drafts.
The small La Patience hospital, located on the outskirts of Bafoussam, in the west of the country, has thus been able to acquire an interactive incubator.
The establishment welcomes people with modest incomes.
Since the acquisition of the "Made in Cameroon" incubator, "we have no longer had neonatal deaths", assures Odette Diffouo, the head of the center.
Odette Diffou (D), director of La Patience hospital in Bafoussam, Cameroon, next to a baby placed in an incubator, September 20, 2021 Daniel Beloumou Olomo AFP
But there is still progress to be made.
"If in one month, we record 10 infant deaths, 6 are premature, that's a lot," regrets Ernestine Bakou, nurse at the Bafoussam regional hospital.
According to her, this mortality rate among premature babies is due in particular to the poor conditions of transfer of infants, who are not always well wrapped to stay warm.
Ms. Bakou assures us that her establishment receives around 100 premature babies every month.
"We are sometimes overwhelmed," she laments.
Some public establishments, which have an insufficient number of incubators, are experimenting with alternatives.
The regional hospital of Bafoussam has been trying the so-called "Kangaroo" method for several years.
This practice, developed by pediatricians in Colombia at the end of the 1970s, consists of putting the baby skin against skin with his mother, more rarely his father, in order to create ideal temperature conditions.
A woman takes care of her baby by the "kangaroo" method, where the child is placed skin to skin with his mother at the regional hospital of Bafoussam, Cameroon, September 20, 2021 Daniel Beloumou Olomo AFP
"Weight gain is rapid with this means, the child feels more secure, the emotional bond is established. It is more effective in premature babies," says Adèle Kuitchopota, a nurse at this hospital.
Baby Tané, who weighed only 1,450 kg at birth in early September, saw her weight increase by 350 grams in a few days thanks to her mother, Falone Kuitche, who carries her infant against her "for sometimes 18 hours a day".
© 2021 AFP