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UFS alumna turned her passion into action

23 October 2020 | Story Andre Damons | Photo Supplied

Beanies for Babies_read more — Dr Potgieter and her team from Beanies4Babies are with women from Westerbloem retirement village, who knit the beanies and socks.

A passion for neonates, especially premature babies, led to an alumna from the University of the Free State (UFS) to co-found Beanies4Babies, an NPO which provides knitted beanies and socks to all babies admitted to the newborn intensive care unit (NICU) in public hospitals.

Dr Johané Potgieter, a first-year medical intern and co-founder of Beanies4babies, says neonates, especially premature babies, are unable to generate their own heat, and thus are dependent of additional measures to warm them. They have a larger head-to-body surface area which increases their risk for heat loss if the head is not covered.

According to Dr Potgieter these little miracles have to use all their energy to grow stronger and fight infection instead of generating heat to prevent them from getting too cold. During her studies she was fortunate to learn vital lessons from passionate and vibrant doctors and sisters. One of them, Sr Vanessa Booysen, lit the fire in her heart for neonates, more specifically premature babies, she says.

Need to prevention hypothermia in premature babies and neonates

The dream started in 2018, when she was a 4th-year medical student, doing her first call in the NICU at Pelonomi Tertiary Hospital. “I noticed the need for additional measures to prevent hypothermia in neonates and was eager to actively combat it. I had an amazing idea for a new project, which sadly had little support. I shared my thoughts with my friend, now co-founder, Clarette Cronje.”

“It was challenging, everyone thought this was going to be a once-off donation. However, I knew my dream was too big for limitations like this. After numerous attempts and failures, a door finally opened to liaise with the Mother and Child Academic Hospital (MACAH) Foundation. As they say: ‘Fall seven times, stand up eight’,” says Dr Potgieter.

The NPO currently provides about 300 packages of knitted beanies and socks a month to all neonates admitted to the NICU in the public hospitals in Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth.

The aim is to expand the project nationwide, and according to Dr Potgieter, they are also are launching it in January at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, where she now works.

A need exists

Dr Potgieter says they had always trusted and hoped for something that would change lives but had never imagined it would be on such a scale.

“There is a need for beanies and socks for these premature babies. We come face to face with this daily and have only scratched the surface. Global statistics for premature births are one in every 10 births. National statistics are one in every seven births.

“Premature and newborn babies cannot generate their own heat through shivering or adding additional layers of clothing to their skin. They are exposed to the surrounding air and objects, increasing their risk for heat loss. They lose a great deal of heat from their heads, making it of critical importance to cover their heads. A large number of our mothers go into premature labour, with an earlier due date than planned, arriving in an ambulance without a newborn’s clothes. So it is clear that a bigger hand is driving this project,” says Dr Potgieter.

Also involve the elderly

Beanies4Babies not only focuses on supporting neonates, but also involves the elderly in the community who knit the products for project. “The angels at the old age homes eagerly knit away. But they need wool. Donations for wool and packaging are needed to service hospitals in three provinces (Free State, Eastern Cape and Gauteng).”

“Volunteers and financial support are also needed as operations have been scaled up to ensure efficiency.”

Says Dr Potgieter: “We are privileged to have a dynamic team of doctors, students, sisters and allied health professionals who support our project.”

Beanies4Babies now functions as one of the First 1000 days projects of the MACAH Foundation that aims to optimise the future for the young generation.

“I am blessed to have the opportunity to do what I love and that is to make a difference.”

News Archive

Researchers international leaders in satellite tracking in the wildlife environment

2015-05-29

Ground-breaking research has attracted international media attention to Francois Deacon, lecturer and researcher in the Department Animal, Wildlife and Grassland Sciences at the UFS, and Prof Nico Smit, from the same department. They are the first researchers in the world to equip giraffes with GPS collars, and to conduct research on this initiative. Recently, they have been joined by Hennie Butler from the Department of Zoology as well as Free State Nature Conservation to further this research.

“Satellite tracking is proving to be extremely valuable in the wildlife environment. The unit is based on a mobile global two-way communication platform, utilising two-way data satellite communication, complete with GPS systems.

“It allows us to track animals day and night, while we monitor their movements remotely from the computer. These systems make possible the efficient control and monitoring of wildlife in all weather conditions and in near-to-real time. We can even communicate with the animals, calling up their positions or changing the tracking schedules.

“The satellite collar allows us to use the extremely accurate data to conduct research with the best technology available. The volume of data received allows us to publish the data in scientific journals and research-related articles.

“Scientific institutions and the public sector have both shown great interest in satellite tracking, which opens up new ground for scientific research for this university. Data management can be done, using Africa Wildlife Tracking (AWT) equipment where we can access our data personally, store it, and make visual presentations. The AWT system and software architecture provide the researcher with asset tracking, GPS location reports, geo-fencing, highly-detailed custom mapping, history reports and playback, polling on demand, history plotting on maps, and a range of reporting types and functions,” Francois said.

Data can be analysed to determine home range, dispersal, or habitat preference for any specific species.

Francois has been involved in multiple research projects over the last 12 years on wildlife species and domesticated animals, including the collaring of species such as Black-backed Jackal, Caracal, African Wild Dog, Hyena, Lion, Cheetah, Cattle, Kudu, Giraffe, and Black Rhino: “Giraffe definitely being the most challenging of all,” he said.

In 2010, he started working on his PhD, entitled The spatial ecology, habitat preferences and diet selection of giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa) in the Kalahari region of South Africa.

Since then, his work has resulted not only in more research work (supervising four Masters students) but also in a number of national and international projects. These include work in the:

Kalahari region (e.g. Khamab Nature Reserve and Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park)
Kuruman region (Collared 18 cattle to identify spatial patterns in relation to the qualities of vegetation and soil-types available. This project took place in collaboration with Born University in Germany)
Woodland Hills Wildlife Estate and Kolomella Iron Ore – ecological monitoring
A number of Free State nature reserves (e.g. Distribution of herbivores (kudu and giraffe) and predators (camera traps)

Francois is also involved with species breeding programmes and management (giraffe, buffalo, sable, roan, and rhino) in Korrannaberg, Rustenburg, Hertzogville, Douglas, and Bethlehem as well as animal and ecological monitoring in Kolomella and Beesthoek iron ore.

Besides the collaring of giraffes, Francois and his colleagues are involved in national projects, where they collect milk from lactating giraffes and DNA material, blood samples, and ecto/endo parasites from giraffes in Southern Africa.

With international projects, Francois is working to collect DNA material for the classification of the nine sub-species of giraffe in Africa. He is also involved in projects focusing on the spatial ecology and adaptation of giraffe in Uganda (Murchison Falls), and to save the last 30 giraffe in the DRC- Garamba National Park.

This project has attracted a good deal of international interest. In June 2014, a US film crew (freelancing for Discovery Channel) filmed a documentary on Francois’ research (trailer of documentary). Early in 2015, a second crew, filming for National Geographic, also visited Francois to document his work.

More information about Francois’ work is available at the GCF website.

Read Francois Deacon's PhD abstract

Direct enquiries to news@ufs.ac.za.

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