Gelisim News

In order to raise awareness for mothers who have premature babies, the program "Being a Mother of Premature" was organized by Istanbul Gelisim University Gender Research Application Center for 8 March International Women's Day. Within the scope of the program, mothers with premature babies who are specialized in various sectors and academic fields came together and shared their success in keeping their babies alive with university students. İlknur Okay, President of El Bebek Gül Bebek Association, one of the guests and now has two premature daughters in her 20s, talked about the problems experienced by parents who have premature babies. Okay noted that 80 percent of mothers and fathers feel guilty about the premature birth of their babies, and it caused by the pressure of the social environment, according to their research as an association with 500 parents who have premature babies.

“PREMATURE BABIES BORN IN TURKEY ARE NOT DISADVANTAGED”

Stating that there is a false perception that every baby born early in the society will die, İlknur Okay said: “About 1 million 248 thousand live births is happening in Turkey. Premature baby birth is 15.6 percent of this figure. In other words, approximately 200 thousand babies are born prematurely every year. There are levels of premature. Some of these babies stay in intensive care for a very long time. Others are discharged in a few days. From this point of view, at least 70 thousand babies undergo long-term and serious intensive care treatments. The earlier a baby is born, the more risk potential and development difficulties it faces. Mortality rates also depend on the birth time of the baby. In other words, the earlier a baby is born, the risk of death increases in parallel. Premature is the first in infant mortality under 5 years. But this does not mean that not every premature baby will live. This poses only a risk. Indeed, the physicians in Turkey, keep the baby alive with the treatment applied by nurses and in a healthy way in the race level with developed countries, the rate of discharge. Premature babies born in Turkey is never a disadvantage.”

80 PERCENT OF PARENTS FEEL GUILTY THEMSELVES

Expressing that in this process, parents should be supported, Okay said: “This process is tiring parents psychologically. Families must be very patient during this period. Apart from this, the relatives of the families who have premature babies should also be understanding in this period. Because during this period, it is always asked, "How is the baby, do you have milk?" We don't ask mom and dad how they are. However, they feel very helpless in this process. In fact, as an association in 2018, we conducted a research with 500 parents who had premature children. 80 percent of parents said they felt guilty about early birth. For this reason, it is necessary not to pressure families and support them socially.

“MATERNITY LEAVE SHOULD START AFTER BIRTH”

Stating that the maternity leave is insufficient, Okay added that they had a request to make a regulation on this issue at the state level and added the following statements:

“The permissions that could not be used before the birth started to be used after birth with an initiative we made in 2011 as an association. However, this is not enough, since the postpartum leave is 8 weeks. Even if the mother has no leave before birth, the days of leave are very short and sometimes the baby is not even discharged. This situation forces mothers to make a choice about their child and job. As an association, our request is that the mother's leave to begin after the baby is discharged. Because this period is a very critical period and not all problems are over when the baby is discharged. As a matter of fact, some treatments of the baby have just begun. This is a situation that forces working mothers and fathers. In fact, many parents are unemployed in this process and economic problems are added to all these problems.”

THE BIGGEST DIFFICULCY OF MOTHERS: NOT TO CONTACT THE BABY

“Anne sen nasılsın?” psiko-eğitim programı kapsamında Türkiye’nin dört bir tarafını dolaştıklarını ve annelerle bir araya geldiklerini kaydeden Okay, prematüre bebek sahibi annelerin yaşadıkları sıkıntıları şu şekilde sıraladı:
Indicating that they had travelled all around Turkey within the scope of psycho-educational program “How are you, Mummy?”, and had met with mothers Okay listed the problems experienced by mothers who have premature babies as follows:

 “We try to come together with mothers in provinces with high birth rates. We listen to their troubles. Mothers express their biggest problem as being unable to contact their babies while they are in intensive care. Unfortunately, there is a deficiency in our country in this regard. However, the baby needs a mother in neurodevelopmental aspects. When you take the baby out of the incubator and give it to the mother's lap, even the breathing of the baby improves, its growth accelerates, the development of nervous and mind increases. While these advantages exist, we cannot evaluate it very well for some reason. In this process, it is very important to feed babies with breast milk, but there are problems in the milk of the mother who is away from her baby. In addition, they have the pressure of the close environment on them. It should be known that; these babies need time. The earlier they are born, the more time it takes them to catch their peers. They can catch their peers around the age of two. For this reason, encouraging families should be encouraged during this period.”

“MOTHERS AND FATHERS SHOULD BE GIVEN PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT”

Underlining that psychological support should be given to mothers and fathers in the process, Faculty Member of Istanbul Gelisim University Psychology Department Dr. Arzu Somay said: “In this process, the mother and father are sentenced to a situation where they cannot touch their baby and are restricted to communicate with him. In this process, the mother feels very bad emotionally. Because it is possible to fight guilt with the thought of not touching her baby or not feeding her enough in the womb. In this process, parents may need social support. Therefore, arrangements must be made in our hospitals. Psychological support should be given to the mother and father within these arrangements. Nurses and doctors need to guide parents in caring for the mother and baby. An environment where the mother can stay with her baby needs to be organized. When these happen, parents can survive this process in a healthier way.

Director of the Istanbul Gelisim University Gender Research Application Center Dr. Emel Tozlu Öztay stated that they want to reach more parents with these programs and added the following statements:

“As premature baby mothers, we are specialized mothers in various sectors and academic fields. But not all mothers are as lucky as us. The number of premature babies is significantly high. This means that there are as many mothers as there are premature babies. Such organizations are highly needed for the advancement of women's employment and raising healthy babies. Premature mothers can be exposed to violence in various ways in the society. With this program, we evaluated the solution suggestions as a premature baby mothers and how they can draw a road map.”
 
“HOSPITAL AND DOCTOR SELECTION IS IMPORTANT”

The mother of 6-month-old premature girl expressed her feelings as follows:

“My baby was born two months early and is now 6 months old. We knew that she would be born prematurely during my pregnancy. In her 6^th month doctors suddenly decided to abort. We had an intensive care period of 32 days. There was no surgery, but 32 days came to us like 32 years. My baby was only able to take breast milk for three days. Later she had discomfort from her intestines. Now she absolutely cannot take breast milk, feeds on baby food. It is a very difficult process, but those who experience this situation should not disturb their morale, they should pay attention to hospital and doctor choices.”