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01 November 2021 | Story André Damons
Mother Lodger Unit revamp MACAH
These students volunteered to help renovate the Mother Lodger Unit at Universitas Academic Hospital.

The Mother and Child Academic Hospital (MACAH) Foundation embarked on a community-based project to do some much-needed renovation and upgrades at the Mother Lodger Unit at Universitas Academic Hospital. Mothers often stay at the unit while their babies are required to remain in hospital for an extended period of time.

The first phase of the project, which took place earlier in October 2021, was a major success with several volunteers made up of MBChB, Occupational Therapists, Physios and Psychology Honours students, spending their Saturday morning painting, cleaning and gardening at the Mother Lodger Unit.

According to project leader Lüther van Zyl, they painted several walls with paint provided by Dulux, and planted vegetables with soil and seedlings provided by Greenside Nursery. “The mothers staying at the unit will soon harvest fresh vegetables and now have the chore of looking after their fresh garden. The next phase will involve further painting of the unit as well as the implementation of informative paintings/graphics which will emphasise the importance of the first 1 000 days of life,” says Van Zyl.

Providing an uplifting environment for mothers

The project coordinator for the MACAH Foundation, Tertia de Bruin, says this was the first Mother Lodger Unit Project undertaken by the MACAH Foundation. It is not an annual project but there will still be several more upgrades and maintenance of the unit until the Mother and Child Academic Hospital is built.    

“The Mother Lodger Unit houses mothers whose babies are in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Because of the importance of the mother-baby dyad, the MACAH Foundation set out to support the mothers by creating a beautiful and positive space for them to live in so they can focus on being a mother and establishing the mother-baby dyad,” says De Bruin.

The aim of the project is to renovate the unit to provide an uplifting environment for these mothers where they can thrive and focus on the recovery of their babies while developing skills and forming supportive relationships with other mothers.

This environment will create an opportunity for these mothers to experience autonomy in maintaining a vegetable garden whilst ensuring food resources. Their environment and stay at the unit should be uplifting and positive and set the tone for the rest of their journey as mothers, further promoting the healthy development of their child long after they have left the unit.

The bond between mother and baby

According to Prof André Venter, Founder Director of MACAH Foundation and Emeritus Professor in Paediatric and Child Health at the University of the Free State (UFS), the bond between a mother and baby can never be replicated by any other person. The baby is totally dependent on the mother and the mother is also dependent on the baby to make her the best mother she can be.

“This bond will enable the baby to have relationships with other people that are meaningful and have depth. The baby feels comfortable and safe in the womb and then after birth they are suddenly in the outside world where there is noise and many dangers. In the time after birth, the mother is there to look after the baby and make the baby feel safe and soothed. The bond is about the baby experiencing that his/her nutritional and emotional needs are met. If this bond is not established, the baby gets anxious and secretes toxic stress hormones which can impair healthy development and growth.” 

News Archive

UFS sympathises with exchange students from Virginia Tech
2007-04-18

The University of the Free State (UFS) is shocked by the news of the tragedy that happened yesterday at Virginia Tech in the United States of America (USA).

Sixteen (16) students from Virginia Tech are currently studying at the Main Campus of the UFS in Bloemfontein on an exchange programme of six months.

The students are devastated because of the loss of their friends who were killed when an armed man opened fire on a hostel and classroom on the Blacksburg Campus of Virginia Tech, killing at least 33 people.

“The exchange programme between the UFS and Virginia Tech, which was implemented in 1998, stipulates that selected students from both institutions will study at the other institution for six months on an annual basis as part of the completion of their undergraduate studies. Approximately 120 students from both institutions have taken part in the exchange programme over the past couple of years,” said Prof. Izak Groenewald, co-ordinator of the agreement and Director of the UFS Centre for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development.

According to Prof. Groenewald no students from the UFS are currently studying at Virginia Tech. “The students from Virginia Tech who are currently studying on the Main Campus are all in their third-year in agriculture and the biological sciences. They will be staying here until the completion of the June examinations, when they will return to Virginia Tech,” said Prof. Groenewald.

According to the Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Frederick Fourie, the UFS has already made the necessary arrangements for the students to receive pastoral and psychological counselling. “We are doing everything in our power to support them and to bring them in touch with their friends on the Blacksburg Campus,” said Prof. Fourie.

According to Prof. Groenewald the American Ambassador in South Africa, Mr Eric M. Bost, will be talking telephonically to the students this afternoon (17 April 2007).

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl@ufs.ac.za
17 April 2007
 

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