LDSC Donates 3,000 Kangaroo Tubes to Provincial Hospital in Cebu

The health of newborn infants is critical to their survival. To help reduce mortality rates in the Province of Cebu, Latter-day Saint Charities (LDSC) turned over 3,000 Kangaroo Tubes to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Hospital (VSMH), a provincial hospital nestled in the heart of Cebu City. 

In a turnover ceremony held on 4 March 2020, Senior Nurse Agnes Egido, Head of the Kangaroo Mother Care Unit in VSMH, received the items on behalf of their division.

Present in the event were Marilou Cardenas and Christine Trias, local LDSC representatives, and Elder and Sister Whitmore, LDSC Welfare Missionaries.

Upon receiving the pouches, Egido shared, “These Kangaroo tubes will save many infants’ lives.”

The donation was made possible through the help of volunteer Latter-day Saint women. These women used their time and talents to cut, sew and package the Kangaroo tubes under the supervision of LDSC volunteer Reynalda David, who herself spent 11 hours inspecting each tube for quality assurance.

“This would not have been possible if it weren't for the efforts of volunteer sisters,” said Elder Whitmore, who with the help of local volunteers, was able to produce enough Kangaroo tubes to last the hospital a year.

According to a 2018 statistic, the Province of Cebu has the highest death rate after live birth in Region VII. The Kangaroo Mother Care Unit of VSMH, is the only one of its kind and focuses on caring of high-risk births, such as babies born at less than two kilograms.  Currently, the unit houses 14 infants and their mother. 

The Kangaroo tubes, which are devices made of flexible cloth worn at the torso to provide skin-to-skin or chest-to-chest contact, will aid mothers and, occasionally the fathers, in keeping babies warm and improving the stability of the babies’ heart and breathing rate.

Most importantly, the Kangaroo tubes promote a strong bond between the parent and baby, which is essential to the physical and emotional development of the child in its infant stage.

In June 2019, LDSC delivered approximately 2,700 Kangaroo tubes to the VSMH. Another batch is set to be produced and delivered in the next coming months.

Latter-day Saint Charities is the humanitarian arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One of its core projects is Maternal and Newborn Care by providing lifesaving training and equipment for birth attendants to help resuscitate babies at birth, support the care of infants and improve newborn and maternal survival.