A new Saudi social campaign seeks to save the lives of premature babies, who are underdeveloped children as a result of premature birth, from the potential risks arising from premature birth. The awareness campaign for premature labor aims to raise public awareness of its problems and reduce its percentage in Saudi Arabia through constructive awareness of society and families Regarding its risks, helping mothers to improve their lifestyle, and striving to save the lives of premature babies.
And it is held in a number of shopping centers all over Saudi Arabia, and it includes many awareness programs and activities for the family about this category of children, with the participation of specialized doctors, and the most important of these activities is the participation of a number of young Saudi artists with experience in order to increase awareness of premature birth in business Technical.
Awareness events are held in malls to educate mothers about the importance of adopting a healthy lifestyle, exercising daily, and the benefits of that, in addition to educating them about premature labor, in addition to organizing sports marathons for parents and children.
The “Mamma Protect Me” premature birth awareness campaign was launched under the patronage of Princess Sarah Bint Sultan bin Nasser bin Abdulaziz, at a ceremony held recently at the Four Seasons Hotel in Riyadh.
Princess Sarah bint Sultan bin Nasser bin Abdulaziz, "Honorary President of the Schizophrenia Association and a member of the Diabetes Association for Children and a Supporter of the Handicapped Children Association" explained that her sponsorship of this campaign comes within the framework of her efforts to serve the nation and pay attention to social work, and her support for women and children in many events, programs and initiatives. Which aims to advance, empower and contribute to Saudi women in most sectors of society, stressing its support for community initiatives, awareness and educational campaigns, and community service in order to achieve sustainable development in various fields in Saudi Arabia, and indicated that the support of all individuals and groups of society and their support, encouragement and awareness among their ranks contributes to achieving What is good for the citizen and the country.
On the increase in cases of premature babies around the world, Dr. Saleh Al-Olayan said, "Professor of Pediatrics at the College of Medicine at Faisal University and a consultant of neonatology at King Faisal Specialist Hospital": According to the World Health Organization for 2016, 15 million premature babies are born every year around the world, The percentage of premature births in 184 countries ranges from 5% to 18%, with an average of 11.1%, and nearly 50% of deaths in children under five years are caused by premature or premature birth and its complications, and it is possible to save the lives of three quarters of premature babies with the medical means available now. A million premature babies die annually around the world due to complications of premature birth, and there is a significant percentage of those who are destined to suffer permanent disabilities, the most important of which are: learning difficulty, vision and hearing problems, and with the increasing number of premature children there is a need to increase the number of families in specialized hospitals, in addition to Qualitative training for medical staff and nursing staff, as the cost of hospitalizing a child in neonatal intensive care in the United States ranges between 3 and 4 thousand dollars per day.
He continued: Premature babies are divided into excessive preterm infants, which is the child who is born before completing 28 weeks of pregnancy, and who is born between 28 to 32 weeks of pregnancy is called very preterm, and the late preterm is the one who is born between 32 to 37 weeks of pregnancy, and these represent 84% of the number of Premature babies, unfortunately, there is no accurate census of the percentages of premature babies in Saudi Arabia, but if the number of births in Saudi Arabia in 2015 reached 540 thousand births, and if we say that the percentage of premature babies in Saudi Arabia is 12%, then this means that there are 65 thousand premature babies born annually Of them, approximately 10 thousand premature babies are critical.
Dr. Saleh Al-Olayan pointed out that the most important causes of premature birth are having premature babies in the past, pregnancy with twins, miscarriage, uterine abnormalities, cervical infections, rupture of the fetal membrane, bleeding during pregnancy, as well as pregnancy at the age of 17 years or less and 35 years and over, as well as diseases Pregnant women such as diabetes, stress, heart and kidney disease, in addition to smoking, the use of forbidden drugs and stressful work for the pregnant woman, indicating that premature labor can be avoided by avoiding causes, such as: cervical cerclage, giving the pregnant woman progesterone during pregnancy, the use of antibiotics and divorce inhibitors, and prevention and relief of complications Prematurity or prematurity, and he stated that the lower the pregnancy age of the premature baby and the lower its weight, the more vulnerable it is to a number of complications, such as: severe shortness of breath, chronic lung disease, brain hemorrhage, intestinal inflammation, and weak immunity.
For her part, the consultant neonatal intensive care unit at the Security Forces Hospital in Riyadh, Dr. Abeer Miqdad, warned of the dangers of premature labor, indicating that the rate of premature births is constantly increasing, but at the same time she confirmed that this problem can be solved and that premature babies are given a better chance and reduce the rate of cases Preterm birth by launching an awareness campaign on premature labor.
Mekdad added: Children who are born prematurely often suffer from health problems and may need to stay in the hospital for a longer period than normal children. Every year one out of every 10 children is born prematurely, and there is no doubt that this represents a difficult circumstance for parents who watch their newborns. They struggle to survive every day, as premature birth may cause long-term health problems for infants, and thus this may have long-term financial repercussions, and it can have serious consequences on the child''s ability to learn and his ability to work in the future.
