Neonatal Care at Crestcare Zoutpansberg: Kharine's Story
- 7 hours ago
- 2 min read
When Kharine Gandamipfa was born on 4 January 2024, she arrived at twenty-eight weeks, much earlier than expected, weighing just 1 063 g. From the start, she needed the specialised neonatal care at Crestcare Zoutpansberg that our smallest patients rely on to breathe, feed, and grow. Her mother, Livhuwani Masindi, was fifty years old and welcoming her first child, making Kharine's arrival an especially meaningful moment for the family.
Neonatal Care at Crestcare Zoutpansberg
Babies born at twenty-eight weeks are considered very premature, and they need time and support to do what they would otherwise have done in the womb. Neonatal care helps with breathing, feeding, and temperature regulation while a baby's body keeps developing — often over many weeks or months.
Kharine experienced respiratory distress and needed CPAP support to help her breathe. In our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, our clinical team gave her continuous monitoring, respiratory support, and the specialised developmental care that very premature babies depend on. The early days and weeks were delicate, and she needed careful, around-the-clock attention as she grew stronger.
Step by step, she made progress, until she was eventually weaned to room air. On 20 February 2024, Kharine was discharged from hospital — by then weighing 1 900 g, having grown from the 1 063 g baby who first arrived in our care.
Returning To Say Thank You
In January 2026, Livhuwani and Kharine — now a happy, curious two-year-old — came back to visit us, to show our nursing staff how much she had grown from the tiny 1 063 g baby they had cared for on a CPAP machine, and to thank them.
Moments like these mean a great deal to us. Our neonatal team cares for our smallest patients through some of the most fragile weeks of life, and we do not always get to see how the story unfolds. Kharine's visit — and the updates and moments of joy that Livhuwani continues to share — is a happy reminder of why this care matters.
About Crestcare Zoutpansberg Hospital
We opened our new three-storey facility in Louis Trichardt in November 2023, with a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and specialist ICU spaces for our smallest patients, alongside our high-care and maternity wards. Kharine was born just over two months after the new hospital opened.
