CAMAGÜEY- Like a red thread that connects the souls destined to meet, neonatology intertwines men and women with incalculable sensitivity, in an act in which every second counts to save lives that have just begun.
Located on the first floor of the Ana Betancourt de Mora obstetrics-gynecology maternity hospital, the Neonatology ward makes its way under strict biosafety protocols, the sound of machines and the silent walk of doctors and nurses who do not rest with a single objective.
“This is a little-known specialty, because it is a closed service —commented Dr. Liana Rosa Pacheco García, a first-degree specialist in Neonatology— “I’ve always been close to it because my father is a neonatologist, I entered the medical career and started in the movement of student assistants, first in pediatrics and then I was directly linked to the specialty, so I did the vertical internship and finished my studies three years ago”.
Today the young doctor assumes her responsibility with dedication and assures that she would choose the same path again; in the same way, with 14 years of experience, Nursing Graduate Annis Fernández Caballeros accepted the opportunity for improvement offered by the Carlos J. Finlay University of Medical Sciences and is in the third year of the Neonatology and Pediatrics Specialty.
“We have gained in knowledge, now we are more prepared in the medical and clinical part, so we know in depth the reason for the procedures we carry out daily, in addition to the sense of belonging, those of us who are here are because we like it, and we feel proud of what we do”, confessed Fernández Caballeros.
Professional growth and study hours never stop for the army of white coats, says Dayana Silva Leonard, second-year resident of Neonatology Specialty, “you have to devote yourself completely. This service requires much attention and overnight study because babies and families depend on you.
But we have all the support, we have professors in the room who guide us in terms of teaching and we receive the postgraduate course in Medical Sciences that include other more general subjects”.
Time does not stop inside the long corridor, in the background the service area for the preparation of medicines, hydration and food, as well as the cubicles for Intensive Care, progressive care and basic neonatal care maintain a leisurely pace, but minute by minute charged of compromise.
Years of work are present in the Neonatology room of this Camagüey’s hospital, faces that reflect the experience and are professorships for the youngest, among them the first-degree specialist in Neonatology, Dr. Diana Fernández Sancho and the nurse, master in Comprehensive Child Care, Yadilka Gómez Verdecia.
“This is a career that demands a lot of dedication”, —says nursing resident Alejandro Varela Pérez—, “but when you are in the place you like, the limitations do not matter because we have the satisfaction of seeing many children return to their houses and then being able to say 'we saved that child'”.
Sensitivity multiplies in the room, little hearts beat, mothers who yearn, families who wait... This is how medical students arrive to their properties who aspire one day to be part of that team where the common denominator will always be vocation and the sacrifice.
Translated by Linet Acuña Quilez