Dyah Tri Kusuma Dewi
Indonesia
Bursary and year received: Newborn Behavioural Observations – 2022
Profession: Midwife
City/region: Yogyakarta City
Tijan Fadera, works at the MRC rural field station of Keneba, The Gambia. The Gambia is mainland Africa’s smallest country and Keneba is a large rural village lying to the south of the Gambia river, an area of predominantly subsistence agriculture.
Tijan was trained in the Neonatal Behavioural Assessment Scale (NBAS) as part of the BRIGHT research project (Brain Imaging For Global Health, https://www.globalfnirs.org). This was a large project with data collection in both the Gambia and the UK, following mothers in pregnancy and their babies up to the age of two years. Tijan was one of two field assistants to receive training on the NBAS.
As part of the study Tijan and his colleague, Fabakary, conducted home visits at 7-14 days post birth during which they would carry out an NBAS. Tijan speaks passionately about the impact of the NBAS on the communities involved in the study:
“Mothers that have had the opportunity to be part of NBAS sessions become different to other parents: they have the knowledge of what a smile is to a child, how you chat with your child, play with your child, making sure you comfort your child.”
While data collection for the study has been completed, Tijan is trying to ensure that the NBAS experience continues to benefit the community. There is ongoing discussion of the NBAS amongst parents and he is approached by members of the community with very young babies. In his own time he delivers the NBAS to newborn babies, because he believes this will have a positive impact on the society he lives in, by changing how parents think. The changes he has seen in interactions with babies are not limited to parents, he has also observed them in other family members, clinicians and members of the research team.
As a result of Tijan’s experience of working on the BRIGHT study, having observed first-hand the impact of the NBAS, he would like to return to university and retrain in psychology or social sciences. He describes how the bond between parents and their children can have far reaching impacts on society and how important it is to talk to our children and motivate them. Tijan regards the NBAS as a key early intervention that supports parental bonding, love and care right from the start of life: