This year we honored the World Prematurity Day once again
On November 17th, the “Our Premature Children” and “Karin Dom” foundations marked World Prematurity Day.
At the meeting we organized, held in Varna, present were parents, neonatologists, psychologists and other specialists who work with premature children – representatives of the “Colorful Future” association, the “House for Medical and Social Care for Children” – Varna and the “Alliance of Bulgarian midwives”.
The emphasis at the discussions and conversations after the meeting was on the fact that the families of premature babies feel much stressed in the beginning and on the great necessity of accurate information and emotional and psychological support.
Useful resources and services
The website of “Our Premature Children” offers fine selection of information written by neonatologists and other specialists. Visit the website at: www.premature-bg.com (the website is in Bulgarian)
Karin Dom offers a wide variety of services with the Early Intervention Programme. This includes home visits – specialized support from rehabilitation therapist and speech therapist at the home of the family, as well as psychological support through individual consultations, support groups for parents and Parent for contact groups. All of those services are offered for free and can be used by parents of premature children.
In Bulgaria one in ten babies is born prematurely. One of the participants at the meeting, the neonatologist Dr. Angelova, expressed that it is necessary for a psychologist to be present at the maternity ward whenever the parents are receiving diagnosis or bad news of any kind. Such practice exists in all European countries in order for the level of stress parents face to be reduced so they can adapt better to the new situation.
After the meeting, the entrance of The Sea Garden was lit in purple and 100 balloons flew up in the air in gesture of acknowledgment and sympathy for the families of premature babies. We hope that they will all grow up to be healthy and strong!
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We thank Petko Petkov for the photos.
