Parents caring for newborn babies awaiting operations for heart defects are receiving increased support under an Abu Dhabi healthcare initiative that aims to boost survival rates.
Abu Dhabi's public health provider, Seha, began an interstage monitoring programme dedicated to babies with serious abnormalities, such as when only one side of a child's heart is functioning.
Such conditions typically require open-heart surgery in the first few days of life, followed by a second heart operation after six months.
In this crucial time between operations, known as the interstage period, about 20 per cent of babies die.
It is a stark statistic that a group of cardiac intensive care physicians, nurses and administrative employees from Seha-affiliated Sheikh Khalifa Medical City seek to address by providing parents with comprehensive monitoring and medical counselling during the most significant of times in their child's life.
"Newborns face a higher risk of death during the interstage period, due to the increased toll a simple virus or other infections can have on an abnormally developed heart," said Dr Anwar Sallam, chief medical officer at Seha.
"With parents not knowing what to watch out for, and how rapidly a newborn with a heart abnormality’s health can deteriorate, the SKMC paediatric cardiac surgical department have taken the lead in introducing a programme that enables the continuous monitoring and care of infants at home during the waiting period.”
The paediatric congenital cardiac team at the hospital look after 50 to 60 newborns with these conditions every year.
The IMP team monitors the infant’s well-being from the time they complete their first open-heart surgery to the day they are readmitted for their second procedure.
The team then establishes regular contact with the family through either daily or weekly telemedicine consultations.
If problems are identified, families are given instructions on how to proceed, and if the situation becomes critical, arrangements are made for referral to hospital and readmission.
"Of the approximately 350 corrective heart surgeries we perform on children each year, around 60 infants require a follow-up open-heart procedure after around six months," said Dr Victoria Sheward, consultant paediatric cardiac intensivist at the hospital.
"By introducing the interstage monitoring programme, we are letting parents know they are not alone during this journey and are providing them with the support they need to keep their newborns safe, healthy and alive as they wait for their second operation.”
The programme was established by the hospital in July last year and currently has close to 30 infants enrolled for home monitoring.
To date, three of them were identified as nearing critical condition because of their declining health, with urgent intervention arranged through the programme.
A mother's gratitude after life-saving intervention
Rayan was born in June 2020 with a severe heart abnormality, in which the whole of the right side of his heart had not developed properly.
His condition meant that he needed life-saving open-heart surgery within the first few weeks of life, which was carried out at SKMC in July.
After a prolonged stay in the paediatric cardiac intensive care unit, Rayan returned home at the end of the month.
“Rayan is my first baby. SKMC doctors diagnosed a congenital heart defect, so he underwent an initial open-heart surgery in his first few days of life during Covid-19, followed by a second heart surgery on December 15 after six months," said his mother, Aya.
"It was one of the toughest times of my life, as my parents were away from me in Syria, but the SKMC team was very supportive and took care of my baby by making continuous follow-up calls.”
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Persuasion
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The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
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Iran's dirty tricks to dodge sanctions
There’s increased scrutiny on the tricks being used to keep commodities flowing to and from blacklisted countries. Here’s a description of how some work.
1 Going Dark
A common method to transport Iranian oil with stealth is to turn off the Automatic Identification System, an electronic device that pinpoints a ship’s location. Known as going dark, a vessel flicks the switch before berthing and typically reappears days later, masking the location of its load or discharge port.
2. Ship-to-Ship Transfers
A first vessel will take its clandestine cargo away from the country in question before transferring it to a waiting ship, all of this happening out of sight. The vessels will then sail in different directions. For about a third of Iranian exports, more than one tanker typically handles a load before it’s delivered to its final destination, analysts say.
3. Fake Destinations
Signaling the wrong destination to load or unload is another technique. Ships that intend to take cargo from Iran may indicate their loading ports in sanction-free places like Iraq. Ships can keep changing their destinations and end up not berthing at any of them.
4. Rebranded Barrels
Iranian barrels can also be rebranded as oil from a nation free from sanctions such as Iraq. The countries share fields along their border and the crude has similar characteristics. Oil from these deposits can be trucked out to another port and documents forged to hide Iran as the origin.
* Bloomberg
Prop idols
Girls full-contact rugby may be in its infancy in the Middle East, but there are already a number of role models for players to look up to.
Sophie Shams (Dubai Exiles mini, England sevens international)
An Emirati student who is blazing a trail in rugby. She first learnt the game at Dubai Exiles and captained her JESS Primary school team. After going to study geophysics at university in the UK, she scored a sensational try in a cup final at Twickenham. She has played for England sevens, and is now contracted to top Premiership club Saracens.
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Seren Gough-Walters (Sharjah Wanderers mini, Wales rugby league international)
Few players anywhere will have taken a more circuitous route to playing rugby on Sky Sports. Gough-Walters was born in Al Wasl Hospital in Dubai, raised in Sharjah, did not take up rugby seriously till she was 15, has a master’s in global governance and ethics, and once worked as an immigration officer at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi. In the summer of 2021 she played for Wales against England in rugby league, in a match that was broadcast live on TV.
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Erin King (Dubai Hurricanes mini, Ireland sevens international)
Aged five, Australia-born King went to Dubai Hurricanes training at The Sevens with her brothers. She immediately struck up a deep affection for rugby. She returned to the city at the end of last year to play at the Dubai Rugby Sevens in the colours of Ireland in the Women’s World Series tournament on Pitch 1.
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Profile
Co-founders of the company: Vilhelm Hedberg and Ravi Bhusari
Launch year: In 2016 ekar launched and signed an agreement with Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi. In January 2017 ekar launched in Dubai in a partnership with the RTA.
Number of employees: Over 50
Financing stage: Series B currently being finalised
Investors: Series A - Audacia Capital
Sector of operation: Transport
