One in 10 babies in Romania is born to soon. However, there are no public facilities that offer integrated follow-up and care to continuously monitor the babies after long hospitalisation. In 2018, Asociatia Prematurilor opened a Centre of Excellence in Prematurity in Bucharest, featuring free interdisciplinary evaluation services for preterm babies and their families. The beneficiaries come from all over the country to reach psychologists, neonatologists, experienced therapists or nutritionists. The services consist of:
- Language and communication assessments (language disorders, delays in general language development, etc.)
- Fine and coarse motricity assessments (neurological disorders)
- Behavior and affectivity, social integration, cognitive processes development assessments
- Preterm post-traumatic evaluations
- Post-discharge assessments made by a neonatologist
Since preterm birth also affects the families, Asociatia Prematurilor helps them overcome the trauma through group therapies ins hospitals or individual counselling sessions. To meet the need, however, the association also encourages more psychologists and to get involved in order to extend this free-of-charge service at a national level.
The founders of the organisation made a significant investment to set-up this multidisciplinary centre, offering over 1,400 free consultations for more than 500 families within the first year. However, the biggest challenge for Asociatia Prematurilor is to cover the annual costs.
Special thanks to Diana Gamulescu from Asociatia Prematurilor
Photo Copyright: Asociatia Prematurilor
