#024 - Two Years Strong: Lessons from Our Global Neonatal Community - Anniversary Recap with Dr Shelly-Ann Dakarai and Dr Mbozu Sipalo
- Mickael Guigui
- Jan 14
- 27 min read
Hello friends 👋
Join hosts Shelly-Ann Dakarai and Mbozu Sipalo as they celebrate two incredible years of the Global Neonatal Podcast! Dive into their journey of global connections, where starting small, embracing teamwork, and learning from diverse neonatal health heroes have been key. A heartfelt thank you to our amazing listeners—your support fuels our passion! We're excited to continue this journey and bring you more inspiring stories from neonatal change makers in 2026.
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The transcript of today's episode can be found below 👇
[00:00.915] Shelly-Ann Dakarai Hello, welcome back to another episode of the Global Neonatal Podcast. Bozu, how are you doing today?
[00:08.043] Mbozu Sipalo I'm doing really well. I'm very excited. It's December as Southern Africans say, say Ki December, meaning it's time to rest and play. So I'm very, very excited. How are you doing?
[00:22.845] Shelly-Ann Dakarai I'm good, I'm good. I think it's one of my favorite times of year. So I do like the end of the year. and it's, you know, makes us reflect on the year as we then gear up for the new year and all the plans that we have. And so in that tradition of reflection, just like we did last year, we wanted to take a little moment to reflect on 2026 as it relates to the podcast. can't believe it's the end of our second season, you know.
[00:50.350] Mbozu Sipalo Yes, we've been doing this for two years. 2024 was year one, 2025 is year two. And it's really exciting and really humbling as well to see the journey, where we're going, where we're coming from, and all the incredible neonatal leaders that we have chatted with and will continue to interact with going forward.
[01:19.271] Shelly-Ann Dakarai Yeah, yeah, definitely. Such an honor to listen to who are going to be, we're going to look back and call them the giants of neonatology, know, who are making some big moves trying to make babies care better all over the world. So that's really been an honor to be able to hear them and be inspired and then be able to share their stories with the rest of our community. And so I feel blessed that we were able to do that.
[01:52.685] Mbozu Sipalo Yeah, and also just how we've been geographically diverse. It's been very insightful having the opportunity to connect with different neonatal health workers from all over the world. This year, for instance, we were in Malawi, Nepal, India. We went to Nigeria, Cameroon, Uganda, South Africa, just to name a few. And Trinidad, you know, it's just been, it's been quite the journey. I wish you could have a map and have it like show a little bit of global neonatal podcast where we've been just to highlight the diversity and the scope. It's been, it's been quite, quite the ride.
[02:40.413] Shelly-Ann Dakarai Yes. Yeah. And although every place is different and might have some unique challenges, we are sometimes more similar than we realize. something that works in one setting, we can bring and adapt to another one. And so it just shows us how together we can learn from each other, no matter where the learnings are coming from. we're more similar than different and we're mostly dealing with many of the same challenges, maybe just at different scales.
[03:17.720] Mbozu Sipalo Yes, yes, precisely. Also, I will say, I'm just, my heart is happy that I get to do this with you. I learned so much from you as a neonatologist doing amazing things in the US, who's also Caribbean and just how you make it feel very easy when obviously it's not. But yeah, I'm, yeah, it's a big privilege for me to have this space to explore with you and to learn together. think it's been It's been fun learning together and I think our listeners will be glad to know we will get better and we are getting better.
[03:53.981] Shelly-Ann Dakarai Yes, we are getting better with every episode. Yes, yes. No, I feel the same way. Thank you for those kind words, but I definitely, I definitely, I'm so grateful to have met you and to be on this journey with you. And I feel like we're a good blend of personalities and approaches. And so it's, it's been a joy and you know, I don't, people probably don't realize that we've actually never met each other in person because we are in such different parts of the world.
[04:19.340] Mbozu Sipalo Well yes, we have them. Yes, but thanks to Shelly Anne. I went to Barbados this year. I got to see, although of course you were meant to go there, but I was just excited. Yeah, just the fact that through this podcast and through meeting the amazing people in World Pediatrics and the PAHO team as well that hosted that perinatal conference, it was just quite the global health serendipitous connection that led to actually being physically present in a place where I never ever thought I would actually be. And that's all thanks to these global health connections and yeah, meeting you and you leading, like basically connecting me to that opportunity. That was really the highlight, one of the highlights of my year.
[05:11.751] Shelly-Ann Dakarai Right. Well, great. know, we island people, you know, we, I'm not from Barbados. I'm from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, very different place, but we're still all Eastern Caribbean and we have our own little spice in our culture. And yeah, we're always happy to share it with the rest of the world. But yeah, it's all, it just started with an email, right? I sent an email to the Incubator podcast saying how much I love the show and I don't remember what I mentioned about global health and they were like, do you want to start the global health version? And you emailed shortly thereafter and they were like, well, somebody else just emailed, so you guys should co-host it and the rest is history.
[05:50.671] Mbozu Sipalo Yeah, yeah, and here we are still doing what we emailed about a few years ago and the, I guess, the power of an email that it can really, yeah, change, change, change a lot, change your life, actually, if you just decide to step out and say yes. I remember sitting with that email. Yeah, sitting with that email, like, should I say yes? Should I say yes? Yeah, and I have and I did and I continue saying yes. it's quite, it's been very, it's been a very, very interesting journey. And I mean that in a positive way.
[06:30.087] Shelly-Ann Dakarai It has. Yes. And we're both shy people. And so it's very strange that we are both on this podcast journey. We are definitely both outside of our comfort zone, but just so happy to share people's stories. And it's so inspiring every time we get to meet them that we get excited about these conversations. Yeah. And so before we kind of get into reflecting on some of the big things we learned through the year, I'm curious to know what's new for next year? What do you see for the podcast for 2026?
[07:09.176] Mbozu Sipalo Hmm, that is a very nice question. And I see fun. I think we have been having fun and I think we'll continue having more fun. And we'll continue having these engaging conversations. I see us exploring new things, social media, which we haven't been as active in, but we're trying to actively work on that and have more of a social media presence considering we have been in this space for two years now and next year will be three. Yeah and I see I see growth I genuinely see us growing more and learning to actually be more comfortable being podcasters. Yeah, I don't like to talk about it for some reason. Like, actually, I do have a podcast, but yeah, we do. We're doing this. It's a health podcast. It's a global neonatal health podcast. it's a beautiful, evolving story. Where do you see us going in 2026?
[08:18.225] Shelly-Ann Dakarai Yes. I agree. I heard this stat. don't know if it's true or not, but it said most podcasts don't pass 10 episodes. People just give up. So, you know, we're still going. We're still consistent. I think there's just so many stories and so many amazing people that we could learn from that I'm excited to keep going. Like we said, outside of our comfort zone, it's a growth. know, growing, getting their stories to more people who might want to hear it. And so maybe leaning in more to YouTube so that persons who may not be podcast audio listeners, but prefer the video medium and maybe sharing some footage from the places that our guests come from. people can have a visual of what it looks like, where our guests are from, what their units look like and things like that. and becoming a better storyteller in a way. So yeah.
[09:21.612] Mbozu Sipalo Yeah, storytelling is one of the oldest forms of education, right? And also, it's a good way to really get to understand people beyond the normal text messages that we're all obsessed with, actually hearing from them and hearing firsthand from them on what the experience is. And this has been quite the platform for that because we do give them the space to do that and they guide the conversations. yeah. which chats do you think you like, which chats or which about interviews from the top of your mind would you want to speak on before we highlight a few of the ones that would want our listeners to remember.
[10:14.035] Shelly-Ann Dakarai Yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. I think, you know, every guest brought their own spin on things, but I feel like I kept hearing a similar through line, through everybody's, everybody's stories about just starting small, using what you have and not being afraid to just start because it's so easy and to get overwhelmed when it seems like there's so much that needs to be done. And I don't know if I have the supplies, the people, or all of the things to make a meaningful change in a way. But that conviction that no, this is important work. And if I start small, I just keep going. And sometimes I may need to kind of join someone else's mission in a way. You know, the admin folks may not quite understand what I need, but we're all kind of coming from the same place, wanting to improve the healthcare system. So it's that starting small and not even when it seems overwhelming and then understanding that change comes in increments and you may kind of have a winding road to get there. but it's worth the journey. So that's kind of what I took away for the most part.
[11:48.129] Mbozu Sipalo I like that, yeah, just starting small, because we usually think of the mountain, but you have to think of step one, and before you think of the whole thing. And I know that's something that I need to remind myself all the time, but it's baby steps. So, yeah. What about you?
[12:09.550] Mbozu Sipalo I agree with you on the starting small. I think another theme that was quite the common thread in our conversations was teamwork and also leading from every level. course, leader also needs to lead from the front, but also needs to lead from the back. So in the NICU or in the neonatal world, there's sort of a flattening of hierarchies, but also just understanding that every person who's attending to the baby is important, has a role to play, and that element of working together and actual team, proper teamwork has to be strengthened. I also remember Dr. Ruth Grace's iconic phrase at the end of her chat where she says, this is the best time, right now is the best time to be born in Uganda. Hey little one, welcome to the world. That really stuck with me and I was like, wow, we need to hear more of those stories of how it really is the best time to be born in spaces that are working hard to improve the neonatal care and subsequently the neonatal outcomes. So that really stuck with me and Uganda has been doing quite well and is making many strides in the neonatal space. And hearing that from an obstetrician who's also a neonatal leader was just the icing on the cake. Yeah.
[13:58.439] Shelly-Ann Dakarai Yeah. Yeah. And you brought up a good point. Like we've been able to talk to not just, you know, the doctors, but we've had parent, a parent, we've had nurses and we've had folks from NGOs that are not medical, but helping on that front with funding and things like that. And then an obstetrician. So it's been a wide array of guests. yeah. Yeah. So we want to leave you with just a few excerpts from some of our guests. We have a tradition where we always ask them to leave some words of advice for their younger self or somebody who was just starting out. And we've had such inspiring thoughts that have been shared. I know I always leave the podcast like, okay, what more can I do? You know, I always leave pumped up and excited and inspired to go. And so we just wanted at the end of 2025 to leave you with some words of encouragement that were said by a few of our guests to help you reflect and hopefully inspire you for 2026 and all that it has to offer.
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[16:39.524] So with that, I wonder if you have any words of encouragement for a provider who is working to improve care and may not have the resources, whether that be human versus equipment, to make a difference and just kind of about to throw their hands up and just say, I'm not sure what else to do. Do you have any words of encouragement or advice for that provider? It's not that easy. know everybody. know that having a good quality care and the practicing NICU and critical care is not that easy. We all know that. But just believe yourself, believe yourself, believe your team and just make your team good. If one door is closed, there has to be another door will open. But don't give up. Never, give up because it is not the one day process. It's long, long. You need a long time investment. and to have a good quality service. So if I already said, if there is one door is closed, there has to be another that will open, but don't stop knocking the door. I must say that. Don't stop knocking on the door. Thank you. Truly inspirational.
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[18:39.386] To wrap up, I wonder if you both could potentially give some words of advice to a nurse who might be taking care of babies. They want to see improvements. They just don't know where to start or they don't feel like they might be taken seriously. Is there something, what can they do to start? What words of advice would you give to that nurse? The advice I would give to this nurse is number one, be the best you can be. know everything you need to know about the newborn and be able to assess, be able to diagnose, be able to know what is the best way forward so that you can have a constructive discussion with a doctor who is taking care of this baby. That way, your life is going to be easier. But if you don't, you are not at your best, you cannot be able to speak up. because you're going to be feeling that you are lower than them. This identity of we are lower than the doctors, I feel like it is a self-imposed prison because we don't have to be in that prison. All you have to do is be the best you can be and then be the person to say, doctor, this medicine that we're giving this baby or this plan that we have with this baby. I don't feel it is the right way. I feel that we should do one, two, three, four. If you're updated, you're informed, you know the newest therapies that should be done for this baby. Why wouldn't anyone listen to you? They would. But if you yourself, you're not competent, yourself, you're not confident, you will not be able to convince anybody else what is needed for this baby. So I feel like my advice to them would be be the best that you can be. Put effort in yourself. Then speak up. Don't hold up, don't hold back. Speak up. If you see something is not going right, speak up. And let us not use the hierarchy because the hierarchy is needed for order. But it should not be oppressive. But we need to be able to be competent and speak up. Speak your mind. Explain why do you think A is better than B? Why do you think we should go this way instead of this other? That way you will help yourself, you will be happier to do the work and your baby is going to get the best. And this is all for the baby. It's not for anybody else. So that would be my advice. Great advice from Edith. I love it. It's all about education and having the confidence in your own abilities. And then you value yourself. I think we all want to be valued in our work place and everybody wants to be to provide the best care. So we actually all have the same common goal. It's all about communication. think many things in the world come down to communication or lack of, but if you have a nurse who is confident in her abilities, who values her knowledge and who is also has also taken the time to actually be educated in the care of the small and sick newborn. So her voice is actually equal to. then I think that's really important what Edith has just said. I think that the value of nurses, you cannot underestimate it. was at the ICN conference in Helsinki last week, so I'm very jet lagged. And we talked about the power of nurses there. And there are more nurses in the world than any other health care provider. We are a very, very strong organization. There's about 29 million nurses. We're the strongest health care organization in the world. And so you have to think that we have such a strong voice and we need to use it. And that's part of coming back to what it is saying is to value yourself. A colleague of mine talked about a nurse and this takes us back into being moved away from the neonatal intensive care unit. And they moved her just because they moved her out of the room. And he collected data back to Edith's data on the mortality rate within the neonatal unit over six months. And the mortality rate went up because she was the educator. She was the experienced nurse. And he showed the data, power of data, to the administrators and said, I need the nurse back. And of course he did. But you could see there how much he valued the nurse as well. And her value was absolutely clear. And it's saying that all of us are valued and what we actually manage to achieve in our workplace. So having the confidence to, I think from my perspective, I feel like everybody's equal. You might be the minister of health, but you can have a really good conversation with them about global health issues because of the background and knowledge that you actually have. So the one thing I guess I leave everybody with is I was at a conference and I met this lovely, lovely nurse. And I said, who are you? What do you do? And she goes, I'm just a nurse. Absolutely not. It's an in neonatal world, just a nurse. Neonates hold the lives of neonatal nurses, hold the lives of babies in their hands. How many places can you go to work? And if you do something wrong, you can impact their, you can actually kill somebody or you can impact their morbidity. Neonatal nurses hold the tiniest babies and the future of society in their hands. So never ever just a nurse. So maybe I'll leave you with that. Never just a nurse, never just a nurse.
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[24:32.696] You've given us a lot of advice so far, but I just wanted to see if there's any closing comment that you want to share. Somebody who is in a low and middle income context, they're trying to improve neonatal care. They may or may not have support from the administration. Any words of encouragement or advice for that provider? Yes. So, you know, one of the things that I value in you know, low to middle income countries is that we, we're a global community. And I think in, being a global community, I think there is a huge opportunity to share. Let me share our experiences with each other. We were able to now close a lot of gaps that would traditionally seem insurmountable. You know, I, I did at one point in time interview to become a consultant in, in the UK. When I was like, Trinidad, I've done enough, leaving. And, but in that interview I shared with them, they said, what are your plans for, you know, neonatal medicine and blah, blah, blah. And I said, listen, I want to introduce a program called Adopt a NICU. And he said, elaborate. And I said, first world countries have a lot of wealth and a lot of expertise and a lot of equipment and so on low to middle income countries, we are on the tail end of receiving a lot of what we need. But if a first-will country adopts a particular NICU from a low to middle income country and there's sharing of technology, teaching, data, even what they consider old equipment in that first-will setting, would you prefer to define in another country, you know, as long as we have manufacturer guarantees for parts and so on, you know, and so I was like, let's try that approach of maybe having an adoption process where, you know, like, let's say I train that sick kids and I'm going back home, sick kids says, hey, we're going to, you know, adopt your NICU. So, you know, if you need respiratory therapists to come and do courses, if you need us to come and do lectures, well, however we can help, let's help. Because, you know, we have a sustainable developmental goal of trying to reduce global neonatal mortality. But we have some countries that are at the minutiae of trying to make 21 and 22 weekers survive. And other countries are struggling with 32 weekers and 30 weekers. Now, let's get everybody on that same page. So let's start all making sure that all 32 weekers across the globe survive. Let's make sure all 31 weekers survive. 30 week is 29, as we do that, then we'll see global neonatal mortality drop. Until we start looking at it from that global perspective, we and sharing, so what's happening in the world right now is everybody's want to go back into silos. We can't do that for health. Can't do that for health care. We have to share with each other. So anyone who is in this particular situation, you must have buy-in. You must have buy-in from your medical chief, your local representative, your minister, your ministry. Once you have that buy-in and can show the evidence for your interventions, I don't think anybody's going to block you from trying to see better for your population. know, so it is, you really need a supportive team. You know, it's It's difficult journey by yourself. You must have advocates. I've had people advocating for me even when I didn't know they were advocating for me. And that still happens up till today, where if there's something I want, and even though the minister and I are good, and I was like, he might not want me to have this or he might not approve this. If somebody else was whispering in his ear, Hey, you know what? We need this. And so you must have that network. advocacy that would really help you push your goals and directives for neonatal and maternal care because they go hand in hand. So get the obstetricians involved because I really think it's a real team responsibility, neonatal medicine. So we really need to get that advocacy going. And I think once you do that, and again, if you get any difficulty, call me. we'll help, but you know, I think it's really, important to have that advocacy and have that, that, that team that really stands by you and help push your agenda. I just want to say, I love that you said about the global community, like as LMICs, because we're innately very social even, and we have that community mindset. And we need that to be reflected in how we do our health and how we want to improve our outcomes. The silo thing is definitely evident in many spaces. yeah, and that's the ethos and the heart of the Global Neonatal Podcast, to connect to share and I really do appreciate that insight that you shared.
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[30:16.578] And I always say that right now is the best time to be born in Uganda. I always tell my mother's dad and I always tell the babies who are born, I'm like, hey little one, welcome to the world. You are glad, you should be happy you are born at this time. And it's amazing, it's amazing. And when you see some advancements in the world of maternal-fetal medicine, you feel good for the babies who may not have had a chance. You know, I'll go a little bit into that, that we've always had. policies, especially about pregnancy laws, how do you terminate a pregnancy, the stoncogenital anomalies. And now we are seeing exit procedures, are intrauterine procedures, being done to save the lives of these babies before they're even delivered. We are learning more and more about this. So it's amazing that we can now even do surgery for the baby before the baby is delivered. We can now counsel mums. And it's amazing. That's all I can say. It is amazing. Still for the mothers who have lost babies, we're trying to see and remove and we say, how do we supported mothers go through the process? Because the nine month journey, even if it's a three month journey or one month, is a pregnancy to that mother. For us clinicians, it's mainly, okay, yeah, it's just an abortion. It's okay. The baby just came out. No, it is a baby for that mother. How do we support them through these journeys? And that is why I'm really big on stillbirth and say, please the stillbirth and asphyxia, asphyxia should always be a reminder that we failed the mother and this baby was an ear miss. This baby was an ear miss. So any baby that had asphyxia that really was preventable, it really should trigger all our, you know, all our thoughts and say, okay, know this. And I'm really glad that the team that I work with is also as passionate, is as, is amazing. It's really amazing. Yeah. And the newborn secretariat as well. I would not be what I am without them. The people that helped me move the things, they, they helped me mobilize. They helped me coordinate. They helped me guide. It's been amazing. Of course, shout out to Dr. Dewo Gracious. He's the best companion. So me and him are the neonates. We are the neonates. When you come to Ministry of Health, please, which you're welcome to do. So you're welcome to join us in there. Yeah. And with that, I would like to ask what words of advice, if you were to be a mentor to someone who's listening, what words of advice would you give to someone? a young Ruth Grace who wants to make a difference and just doesn't know where to start or is getting a little bit overwhelmed by all the things that need to happen. Yeah. Thank you. It's a beautiful question. A young Ruth Grace out there, I will say do not be hard on yourself. It takes time. There's a lot of internet out there. And everyone is showing you how everything is suburb in their life. Everything is okay. You are a young doctor. You have just finished school or you're even just a student who is between the path of career. Do what you love. Do what you love. If you do what you love, you'll find your way in there. You'll find your way and you'll make money in there. Do not do a career thinking there's a lot of money. That's why I'm doing the career. No. Love first before the career. When you love what you do, you're able to make money with it. And also do not forget to take care of yourself. Self care is very important. You do not need to break down or lose your life because you have not given yourself that time. So please always take care of yourself. Make sure that you also help others. Help others because others also helped you. And that's it. Yeah.
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[34:02.530] What kind of policies do you think, if you're to think of like maybe top three health policies, do you think would be good to be at the top of policymakers' minds in terms of preemie care or parents or clinicians? And also noting that we are wrapping up, but would be nice to just end on a good note on something that you think would be good to implement. in the preemie space as someone who is a founder of the preemie connect and yeah, just your thoughts on that. I must say when it comes to policy, South Africa has some of the world's greatest policies in place. We just recently, it was during COVID that they updated the maternal newborn policy. And I had the fortune of being a part of that. And I was amazed to see the policies that were there. But when you're on the ground, those policies are not being implemented. that's where we can have these 50 page documents that state that you have to do A, B, C, D, E, F, But it's not happening. obviously, again, there's so many layers to it when it comes to these policies. But I think when it comes to parents of premium, one of the things that is also sitting at the forefront of my mind is, and I'm seeing a lot of my international counterparts, but obviously these are all first world countries where they are having change in the maternity leave. I mean, I had to choose, I knew my son's been two months in hospital. That was two out of the four months of my maternity leave, which meant that at home I only would have two months with him. And that was something I couldn't wrap my mind around. And again, it was one of the reasons why we decided to opt for the part that we decided. And also that four months is unpaid. So how am I paying for the transport to get to and from the hospital that's on the other side of the tower? And it happens that babies are moved from facility to facility because of the care that they required. where are the parents supposed to get that money? And then you still end up fighting for your unemployment. A lot of mothers, full term babies, take their four months of unpaid and still by the time they return to work have not received their unemployment. So those are things that really, really weigh heavily on parents in general, not only premium parents, but how... How great would it be to not have to worry about the finances? You're already worrying about is your baby gonna make it from day to day? There were times that we couldn't even survive hour to hour. I was like living minute to minute. Okay, now we good. my gosh, no, he stopped breathing. my gosh, they have to resuscitate. So having to worry, my gosh, like tomorrow, we're like, and there were moms in the neck. You're like, we would gather money together just so that, this particular mom doesn't have money to come, just so that she can come. Her baby is very ill and she really, really needs to be here for her baby. And also I love the new IKMC policy that is out. I mean, the global position paper and implementation strategies, they are beautiful. They are wonderful. You know, I was part of that working group, but no case implementing them. As much as the World Health Organization is saying that we need to have the dyad together, mother, baby, it's not happening. I mean, we are miles ahead in the fact that we actually have kangaroo mother care units in our hospitals. That's already a step in the right direction. But is it enough? Because you still have to go through that whole roller coaster before you get to the K and C stage of being with your baby and being booked back into hospital and having to go through that journey. So We need to change the set up of how our hospitals are designed and make room for the pair. no one's realizing that this is going to shorten the time that the babies are staying in hospital. And it's going to give the parents the confidence that they need in order to look after these babies on their own. So my hope would be that prematurity is put at the forefront because we know that it's the leading cause for. newborn deaths. We know that for children under five years old and it's really really because of all these socio-economic barriers. That's all that it is. I believe if the parents had the resources, if they had the education, nobody wants their child to die. Nobody's going to purposely do something in order to cause that death. But when you are struggling just to make a day-to-day How are you supposed to provide for this child? And then you've still gone through your own trauma. Your birth ended abruptly in a way that you never expected it to. Nobody looked at you and said, are you okay? Do you need help? Is there something I can get for you? Or just came and sat next to you? Because sometimes you don't want to talk. Sometimes you get tired of explaining to people. And I was lucky. I had a very good friend who like, they just stepped up to the plate. They knew what we needed before we even knew what we needed. You just had a car accident. You need to go to the hospital every day. Here's my car. Take it for as long as you need it. You know, they would come to my house. They would cook food for us because... who after spending 10 hours at the hospital wants to still come home and cook? I've still got, like you said earlier, you still got other children at home. So we need to, as much as we wanna ensure that the babies are taken care of, the age old saying goes, if mama's okay, baby will be okay. Or she's gonna make damn well sure that she does everything in order for her baby to be okay. And we need to just start looking at the bigger picture and the long-term picture. Because like I said, in hospital, you've got the support that you need. But the minute you leave that hospital, no one's picking up the phone. If you missed your follow-up appointment, no one's picking up to ask you, Tasman, why did you not come up for your follow-up appointment? And I feel like that's something that should be addressed because you can't just leave them to fall to the wayside and leave the babies to fall to the wayside. And then the next time you see the baby is when you've been rushed in for some medical emergency. So yes, to implement those wonderful policies, to make sure that they are actually being done on the ground and to ensure that our parents are equipped and that they are given the support that they need. I think for me, those are the top two things. Thanks so much Tasmin for a very enlightening conversation, also inspiring. And we hope that this message gets to who needs to hear it and that if anybody wants to connect and kind of help PreMe Connect. with any of their endeavors, they'll be able to reach out. So how can folks connect with you? I think the easiest would be to follow us on social media. can DM us. We are on all the social media platforms. So you'll just search for at Primi Connect, P-R-E-M-I-E-C-O-M-E-C-T. And you'll find us there. And yeah, we'd love to connect with you. We'd love for you to share your stories with us. And we do understand. that not all babies get to go home. We understand that some get to go home and don't get to stay. And that's why our support groups have grown. Our online support groups, we actually have four different ones now, not only the premium one. And we support parents who have lost their babies. We support special needs parents as well.
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[44:19.106] And I know we asked you a little bit about advice to folks who might be wanting to do both clinical and research. And you did offer some really inspiring words of advice about taking things one at a time and working at what you're working at and doing it to the best of your ability. Do you have any words of advice for the clinician who might be working with limited resources and just feeling like they might want to quit and throw in the towel and that they're not seeing change. Do you have any anything else that you'd like to add to what you've said previously? Yeah, I think you are the change that you want to see is what I could say because I came to Kamuzu Central Hospital when we didn't have level two NICU, for example. And I came there when we didn't have an HDU and I came there when We didn't have piped oxygen. We didn't have a lab for pediatrics. And so it was, you can imagine the frustration. I want to check UNDs and I can't. And I have to wait two days later and by the time the results come back, the patient has completely changed. I have to redo them and I don't know where to start from. And it was chaotic. And I had to step back and say, well, I could either sit here complain or look for a way out. And so I began to look for like-minded people and partner with them and share the vision that I have and say, listen, if you could at least just maybe let's raise funds to get a lab sorted. And then we eventually put up a lab and then people were of goodwill or we talked to them or it would be nice if we had an HDU. We set up an HDU. NEST presents itself, you jump onto it, and now we have the level two NICU. And you saw you're looking for opportunities, but you're also grabbing those that are coming towards you that are aligning to your goal and vision. I felt very frustrated as a leader, not to have data to speak into the changes that I want to make, or even for advocacy. And I was trying to do a little, little data systems and then an opportunity presents itself. Whatever frustrates you is actually an opportunity. So there you should grab that, sit back, think through how best you can actually make that change. And that's the difference that you will bring. The difference is in you. you for those words. Whatever frustrates you is probably where you need to put your efforts. I'm going to remember that moving forward. Instead, when you're frustrated, don't just be frustrated. Be like, that's a clue that this might be something that I'm passionate about that I need to work towards making a change. You are the change you want to see in the world. So thank you, Dr. Sandy, for sharing those words with us.
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Mbozu Sipalo And there you have it. We have gone around the world, listening to amazing speakers share really insightful tips and advice on their personal journeys. want to thank you for joining us for this episode, the final episode of 2025 of the Global Neonatal Podcast. We look forward to you joining us in 2026. We hope you found all the conversations and nuggets of wisdom as inspiring as we did. And if any of this resonated with you, share this episode with someone else who you think would find it valuable. If there's someone you think we should have on the podcast, we're always happy to receive recommendations and would love to hear your suggestions. So until next time, take care, keep making a difference, and let's go faster together for newborn care.
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