Donate to Save Premature Babies in Tanzania

Help Us Give Premature Babies a Fighting Chance in Tanzania

Hi everyone,

Thank you so much for taking a moment to navigate to this page.

My name is Alice de Martel, and I’m a pre-medical student at UC Berkeley. This summer, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to intern at Saint Elizabeth Hospital in Arusha, Tanzania. During my time here, I’ve been working in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)—a place that has moved me deeply and changed the way I view medicine, equity, and global health.

Every day, I see tiny, premature babies in severe condition. Many of them require incubators—machines that mimic the warmth and oxygen of a mother’s womb. Unfortunately, the hospital currently has only one high-quality incubator—the kind that very sick newborns need—and a second, older one that isn’t used as much due to its limited functionality. A new, fully equipped incubator costs around $9,670. Because of this shortage, the staff are sometimes forced to place three fragile newborns in a single incubator, raising risk of infection and causing many temperature control, monitoring, and stress complications.

A NICU nurse explained it best:

“Most african women don’t have the money to go to the hospital for check ups while they’re pregnant. They wait until 4-6 months of pregnancy before going to the hospital instead of immediately going for antenatal cleanings. This is why pregnant women do activities they’re normally not allowed to do like carrying heavy bags and drinking alcohol, causing an increased risk of getting premature babies because they don’t know they are pregnant. As a result, we are getting many pregnant women delivering premature babies. Currently, per month, we get around 5-6 who are premature who need oxygen and need to be isolated in the incubator. Sometimes we have one baby in the incubator and we get two babies who really need it, so sometimes we have to put three babies in one incubator.”

We know that one incubator won’t solve the structural issues of poverty, but it can save lives and reshape the notion in Tanzania that sick babies inevitably pass away. And that's where you come in.

I’m fundraising to purchase an additional high functional incubator for the NICU at Saint Elizabeth. Any amount you give—whether it's $5, $50, or $500—will go directly toward that goal.

In a place like this, even a single dollar can go further than you think.

Please consider donating and sharing this page.

Thank you so much for your kindness and support.

With gratitude,

Alice de Martel