Dr Mabatho Kekana strives to keep babies healthy

In 2020, Dr Mabatho Kekana received a Rural Institutional Award from the Discovery Foundation to improve healthcare services for mothers and babies at Estcourt Hospital in KwaZulu-Natal.

Plans to build a separate ward for babies delayed

Until recently, children, babies and adults have all had to use the same outpatient facilities at Estcourt Hospital, a district hospital that serves 11 primary healthcare clinics in Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal.

Although the hospital staff had identified a suitable venue for moving the paediatric outpatient department to separate it from the general one, there was no funding to do so.

Dr Gloria Nkabinde steps in to help

Dr Kekana explains how she came to apply for the award. "At the time, I was attending a meeting at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and I mentioned my frustration in passing to one of the lecturers, Dr Gloria Nkabinde, who mentioned the Discovery Foundation Awards as a possible solution, and helped us to apply for it."

Dr Nompumelelo Gloria Mfeka-Nkabinde is no stranger to the Discovery Foundation, having received an Academic Fellowship Award in 2018 for her PhD research on how rural teenagers perceive their sexuality and fertility.

Crucial to treat adults and children in separate wards

"The funding would be used for training and capacity building in the mother and child unit at the hospital," says Dr Kekana. "We want to separate our children and babies from adults in the outpatient department. This will reduce the risk of children contracting infections such as pulmonary TB, or even multi-drug-resistant TB, and other respiratory tract infections that are more prevalent in adults."

"With the present COVID-19 pandemic, we realise how crucial it is to treat adults and children separately," she adds.

Dr Kekana explains that the hospital will also use the grant to buy training material to improve doctors' skills in resuscitation. The hospital also has a new internship programme, and receiving registrars specialising in different fields will benefit the Estcourt community.

Striving to keep mothers and children alive

In 2010, Dr Kekana became the first woman to receive the Rural Doctor of the Year Award from the Rural Doctors Association of Southern Africa. Originally from Thembisa on the East Rand of Gauteng, she has worked in both private and public practice. She has a BSc from the University of Zululand and an MBChB from the Medical University of South Africa, now Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University.

Dr Kekana is proud of Estcourt Hospital's high level of care. Since 2018, the hospital has maintained a zero maternal death rate, she says. Her aims and the Discovery Foundation's goals align perfectly - to keep mothers and children healthy.

"We are grateful to Discovery for the award. It will be used for the bigger benefit of the hospital and the community," Dr Kekana concludes.

This article was created for the 2020 Discovery Foundation Awards and has been edited for the Discovery Magazine.