Donation Fund for Premature Born Children in Bulgaria

What do premature babies need in order to survive? 1 out of every 10 babies in Bulgaria is born prematurely, with prematurity levels in some cities well above the country average of nearly 18%. Each year 6,000 babies are born too early and unprepared for life outside the mother's womb. Due to their low weight and not fully developed organs and systems, they need specialized care to survive and develop. Unfortunately, in some settlements in Bulgaria neonatal wards are not well equipped for the needs of their youngest patients. From 2012 until now, Our Premature Children Foundation has donated life-saving equipment to more than 30 wards in the country. Although incubators are among the most popular equipment associated with such campaigns and they are undoubtedly of the utmost importance for every NICU, it turns out that there is no less need for resuscitation tables, thermowells, monitors for vital signs, pulse oximeters, infusion pumps, including, for our great astonishment, consumables such as better tubes for intubation of premature babies. Within the “Big Wonders for Little Heroes” campaign, we aim to raise funding and ensure that premature babies are receiving the best medical care and access to modern medical equipment indefinitely of where they were born. We rely on your help to make this possible. “Our Premature Children” Foundation is in constant contact with the teams of neonatal wards in the country who are taking care of premature and high-risk newborns. In our work on each campaign, we conduct a survey among the departments across the country, including among small settlements. A study of the foundation, which took place in October 2018, highlighted a number of basic types of medical equipment of which the departments are suffering a serious shortage.