Publications
Partners
For mothers whose children and newborns are receiving hospital treatment, the Ronald McDonald Family Room offers a haven of respite and hospitality while they are able to be close to their children.
An initiative by non-profit organisation Ronald McDonald House Charities South Africa, the Family Room offers a resting and regrouping area within the hospital for families of children undergoing treatment.
Launched at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Soweto in November 2013, it caters for mothers of children in the neonatal intensive care unit and the neonatal ward 66.
It is open every day from 8am to 6pm.
The Family Room has a kitchenette and a lounge area where parents can relax when visiting their babies. They are also provided with beverages, muffins and a supportive environment.
“We’re not here to act as psychologists. We are here to hold your hand during a time which can be stressful to a parent.
“We don’t make you talk about anything you don’t want to. We are merely providing a safe, clean and supportive environment where you can regroup before going back to see your child,” says Pat Thekisho, the organisational leader of Ronald McDonald House Charities South Africa.
The idea for the Family Room came about because parents would visit their hospitalised children and would have nowhere to go while their children were in the care of doctors.
“You would see parents sitting out on benches or on the grass, and that’s when we saw a need to step in,” Thekisho says.
Now the Family Room provides a safe space for more than 100 mothers who come on a daily basis.
First-time mother Nokuthula Mazibuko (26) has been at the hospital every day for the past four weeks visiting her month-old baby, and she says the Family Room has been her saving grace.
“When I arrived here, I was a depressed and stressed person and used to sit alone ... But eventually I found other mothers in the same situation as me and it gave me strength,” she says.
“I am still new to motherhood and I’ve met other mothers who’ve experienced hardships that surpass my own.
“So when we sit in the room we talk with each other. If we see that someone is down we ask what’s wrong … we encourage each other. If it wasn’t for them I doubt I’d be smiling right now,” Mazibuko adds.
Another mother who’s just been welcomed to the Family Room is 20-year-old Karabo Mabote, whose newborn is in critical condition due to a heart malfunction.
Mabote travelled from the North West, and she says the Family Room feels like home.
“Being here is so comfortable; it’s like I’m home. Even those working here make me feel at home, they’re loving, caring and supportive,” Mabote says.
The Family Room has also helped her manage her stress as she is juggling motherhood with her studies.
While she studies, doctors attend to her daughter who will have to be in ICU until she can breathe on her own.
Thekisho shares in Mabote’s sentiments of the Family Room being a home away from home: “There is no limit to how long parents stay nor is there a charge. It all depends on how sick their child is; we let them stay even after their child is better or if they’ve passed on. We are just here to help in the healing process of their children, to be the nurturer to the nurturer.”
The Family Room also has lockers where parents can put their handbags and other belongings.
This is so that they avoid transporting germs when they go back to see their children. It also has a small workstation that the mothers have access to.
While the Family Room is only at the Chris Hani Hospital, Thekisho says there is a desire to expand it.
“We are looking at forming a national footprint but it requires us to raise millions. We have to find donors and sponsors to help with that,” she said.
The public is invited to donate to the initiative.
“We have a donation box at all McDonald’s restaurants where people can put forward their contributions. We also have fundraising events,” says Thekisho.
Donations such as muffins, food parcels, linen, cleaning material as well as volunteers are also encouraged .
“We welcome volunteers too. We’ve had people come to help clean and serve food. Some love interacting with people so you’ll sometimes see volunteers talking and tending to parents here.”
Ronald McDonald House Charities is currently getting ready to launch a Ronald McDonald House at the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital in Johannesburg later this year.
Consisting of 28 rooms, it will offer a sleepover facility for parents to stay close to their children.
The organisation also has plans to have the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile up and running in 2017.
The state-of-the-art mobile clinic will deal with medical, optical and health screenings for children in rural and urban areas.
