CAMAGÜEY.- What is the name of the baby?

"Alan, his name is Alan," the nurse says quickly and out loud.

She takes care of him as if she were her mother, she calls him "my big boy" and her face lights up when he moves a little more than yesterday. Alan is very young, he still doesn't know who his real heroes and heroines are. He has no way of thanking them either, but there in the Neonatology Service of the "Ana Betancourt de Mora" Gynecobstetric Hospital, the lives of many like him are decided.

Adelante Digital spoke with the Head of Service, Dr. Adrián Pacheco Martínez, a good-natured man who constantly challenges the interlocutor with jokes, but cannot hide his dark circles and sacrifice:

“The Neonatology Service has the objective of caring for all seriously ill, critical, low-weight, premature and diseased newborns throughout the province. It has a staff of 60 beds, including nurseries and incubators. It has an Intensive Care room, one for progressive care and another for basic neonatal care. In addition, there is a "skin-to-skin" room, belonging to the Kangaroo Program, where direct contact is made between the mother and the newborn, as this favors weight gain and the evolution of the children. We also have a laboratory that works 24 hours and with results at the moment; in this place nothing can be for tomorrow”.

What are the most common causes for which newborns are admitted?

“The most frequent causes - explains Pacheco Martínez - are found in prematurity and, above all, due to hypertension in the mother. In 2022 we cared for 200 children and we had 36 deaths, each one with a lot of pain for their families and for us, who try to give the best to each patient. In all cases there have been complications that are based on diseases of the mother, which have generated premature interruptions of pregnancy.

What challenges does the Service face?

“Without a doubt, the exodus of health professionals and the lack of material resources due to the economic crisis and the Blockade have affected us greatly. For example, one of our patients needs a very specific antibiotic (aztreonam) that does not exist in the country, and thanks to efforts by his relatives and the Hospital with our colleagues in Venezuela, the medicine will arrive in Cuba today.

But our main challenge is to protect the human resources we have and stimulate the entry of new personnel into the Service, through salary increases or other options. Neonatology demands the work of many people, especially nurses and trained nurses who can assume the complexity of working with newborns. For economic problems, we look for alternatives, but human resources are the most valuable here."

Dr. Marilín Fernández Sánchez, Specialist in Neonatology, also receives the morning between papers and very detailed calculations, so that each dose is indicated. She discovers the "Harlequin" sign among one of her patients, and immediately meets with the team to assess the little boy, who now has two colors to his skin.

"Our work is a challenge for all health professionals, because they are babies that require special attention and dedication, (...) so that their family can experience the happiness of having them at home with optimal conditions." This is how she describes the work of her, the specialist, with the background of medical devices in the background, sounds to which she is already accustomed after 15 years in the Service.

Annelis Boza Caballero is Alan's nurse, the one who knows his name better than anyone.

“Newborns cannot talk or complain like older children, so each nurse must dedicate herself to only one baby. This enables not only an affective bond, but also getting to know them. They expressed themselves through signs and symptoms and that complicates everything; but when they hug your finger with their little hand, when you see them improve, it's an indescribable feeling. Each one of them leaves a mark on you and you create a very strong bond”.

She has been a nurse in the Neonatology Service for 15 years and when she speaks for Alan, she puts on the voice that she imagines for him and says: “seño, mija, you woke me up”, as if she were the child. "When the patient cannot speak - she tells me without stopping to observe him - we are their voice".