Supporting Over
500+ Preterm Babies
To create awareness, encourage, inform, and guide parents of preemies to confidently navigate the journey of prematurity and bridge the gap between the clinicians and parents during the home neonatal care.
Preterm Infants Parents Network Uganda is a registered charity organization that was formed in March 2022. The network is made of parents, infants, specialists (Doctors and nurses) and adults preemies to offer support to families of premature babies.
The support which PIPNU offers starts when mums become aware that their pregnancy is high risk and their baby may be born premature, it continues while they have an infant in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit(NICU) and post discharge support to bridge the communication gap between medical team and parents by doing follow ups.
A premature baby is one born before 37 weeks’ gestation. In Uganda 8.7% of babies are born premature each year some weighing less than 800g. 6% of the registered babies die in hospitals. In Uganda, the 2nd cause of death among newborn babies is prematurity. Currently the network is following up on over 1000 preterm parents and babies from home, we train over 50 parents per week in referral hospitals on neonatal home care.
Many preemies still have hurdles to overcome after their discharge from hospitals. These may include chronic lung disease, severe reflux or other gastrointestinal problems, eating problems, developmental delays, growth and language problems. Many preemies will remain on the lower end of growth scales for years past the age they should have been. For a small number of preemie children, the hurdles remain lifetime challenges as the legacy of their early arrival is cerebral palsy, ASD (autism spectrum disorder), visual or hearing impairment.
Kateregga Bazilio is the Managing Director and co-founder of PIPNU. His professional background is in marketing (ACIM – Associate of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK). He holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce.
In 2022, his twins were born prematurely at 29 weeks. One twin had passed away at 25 weeks and remained in the womb for an additional month to allow the surviving twin more time to develop. This heartbreaking experience left the parents and sibling grieving deeply. During this time and afterward, Bazilio realized the complete lack of support systems, public awareness, and accessible information for parents facing complicated pregnancies. He felt strongly that no parent should have to endure such a traumatic experience without support.
Motivated by this, he formally registered the Parents and Preterms Network Uganda (PIPNU) in October 2022. Together with a team of experts, he developed declarations, guidelines, and educational materials to support parents of preterm children.
In November 2022, Kateregga Bazilio was appointed to the Ministry of Health’s Newborn Steering Committee.
Recognizing the urgent need for advocacy for preterm children not only in Uganda but across Africa, Bazilio made the significant decision to leave his role as Head of 3PLs at Jumia and fully dedicate himself to leading PIPNU as Managing Director.
Mpanga Arnold is a co-author and co-editor of different information material,
brochures, articles and reports on the topics within maternal and newborn health.
Dr. Anita Tumwebaze Muhumuza joined PIPNU in March 2022. She is a Pediatrician/Newborn Expert.
Arinaitwe Patience joined PIPNU in July 2022. She holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration and Management. She is an accountant by profession.
Kateregga Bazilio is the Managing Director and co-founder of PIPNU. He professional background lies in marketing (ACIM- Associate Chartered Institute of Marketing -UK), holding a Master’s degree in Business
Administration, Bachelor’s degree in Commerce
we have had successful outreach programs organized at Kawempe referral hospital and Mulago women specialized hospital with items like pampers, surfactant, soap, sugar to mention but a few.
In our outreach programs we engage companies following their call and corporate social responsibilities to donate or provide some form of support to preterm babies and mothers which helps, uplifts and encourages them, knowing that someone else cares about what they are going through. we have had successful outreach programs organized at Kawempe referral hospital and Mulago women specialized hospital with items like pampers, surfactant, soap, sugar to mention but a few.