‘Speak words of faith, make positive declarations’

‘Speak words of faith and make positive declarations over your baby or babies, have faith and hang in there. Ask the health experts questions to know how best you can support them in their work, for instance, providing items they request for your baby/babies in a timely manner.’

These were the words of Amma Ampon Agyeman- Prempeh when I asked her what she would say to parents currently in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

To Amma, faith played an important role in her daughter’s recovery.

Earlier this month, Amma’s daughter, Ohenewah turned one and being a person who believes in the power of sharing experiences to encourage others, Amma shared her family’s NICU journey on her Instagram page.

She narrated that soon after she was successfully delivered of her baby through caesarean section on July 10, 2020, she shared pictures of her bundle of joy with relatives and close friends with the caption “She’s here” and the congratulatory messages started pouring in.

An hour later, after she was wheeled to her ward, she tried breastfeeding and realised Ohenewah couldn’t suckle after many attempts. Later, she realised there was some liquid in her mouth and alerted the nurses.

“Everything happened so fast; oxygen saturation was at 77 per cent, they put oxygen on her and  the doctor referred her to Ridge (Greater Accra Regional Hospital). When I heard NICU, I panicked and began to shiver,” she narrated.

NICU journey

Amma, a mother of three, had heard of the NICU and seen photos and videos but had never been inside one, she told NICU Soldiers in an interview.

The baby, accompanied by Amma’s mother, was moved to the referral facility with an ambulance, while Amma’s husband stayed with her.

Wanting to better understand the baby’s condition, she relied on her health expert friends at the hospital who explained what was happening and the treatment plans.

The specialist at the NICU explained that the baby’s condition could be as a result of being born prematurely (37 weeks), foetal distress or having been delivered through a C-section.

Amma was still recovering from surgery so it was her husband, her mother and her friends at the hospital who kept her updated. “Each morning, I would be extremely anxious until I heard from my husband on how she was doing.”

When she was discharged and eventually had the chance to meet her baby, it took her a lot of courage not to break down after seeing all the “wires” connected to her body.

“When I arrived home, I burst into tears because I was home with no baby,” she recounted.
 
By the next day, the baby was recovering and was taken off most of the support she needed and moved into another room but by evening, she showed signs of jaundice and was placed under a phototherapy machine.

The session lasted for 24 hours and thankfully, the results from her laboratory tests indicated she was fine to go home.

“So after four days (but seemed like weeks to us) at the NICU, we finally got to take our baby girl home,” Amma wrote.

Supportive husband

She recounted that when her husband first showed her pictures of Ohenewah, she had mixed feelings – although she was relieved to see her alive and responding to treatment, she was also sad to see her wearing only a diaper and with wires around her tiny body.

She said  the most remarkable thing about her experience was how her husband went through the journey. “He would go to the NICU in the morning and evenings and stand by her cot talking to her and saying the Psalms to her. He could have stayed by her side all day if it was permitted. Like my mum, he had great faith that she would survive. But there were moments when I could see the fear in his eyes. Yet, he continued to believe and make positive faith declarations over her life.”

On how she felt after she had shared the good news to her friends and family and then had to rush baby to the NICU, she explained “a part of me berated myself for sharing too soon. But I’m not one to hold back because as a Christian, I believe that we overcome with the blood of the Lamb and the testimony of our mouths. I share good news so others can celebrate with me and I share challenging times so they can pray with me.

“So once I sent the update, I had a prayer chain of friends and family both in Ghana and abroad praying for me and giving me helpful advice to go through the experience.”

Amma also mentioned that when her mother took the baby to the NICU, she was told the baby had a 50/50 chance of survival but her mother, who did not want to make her more anxious, never mentioned  a word till Ohenewah was around six months old.

“The specialist at the NICU called my mum “Powerful Grandma”. I guess it must have been the way she received the news about her chances of survival and her faith that she would survive.”