Seventeen premature babies are currently being treated in the neonatal unit of the obstetrics and gynecology hospital in Varna. This is above the unit’s capacity, which is 10 children. The smallest patient is a baby girl weighing 670 grams. She is extremely premature but is developing well, and doctors expect her to be successfully discharged.
The shortage of equipment remains a serious problem for the team. At least 17 children are in incubators, while several others are under medical observation. “We are critically short of incubators at the moment,” the hospital in Varna said. According to the medical facility, some of the available equipment is old and already worn out.
About 6,000 premature babies born annually
About 6,000 premature babies are born every year in Bulgaria, and approximately one in every ten children comes into the world prematurely. By mid-November, the number of premature babies born in the country had exceeded 3,200.
As part of the initiatives marking World Prematurity Day, a number of medical facilities and landmark buildings will be illuminated in purple. Among them are the National Palace of Culture and Tsarevets Fortress in Veliko Tarnovo. The color symbolizes support for children born earlier than expected and for their families.
As is customary, parents, grown-up children and doctors meet to recall the first hours after birth and the care that helped the youngest patients take their first breath.
Source: nova.bg