New mothers appreciate gesture of felicitation

New mothers who were felicitated at Latifa Hospital on the sixth accession anniversary of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, said they were touched by the gesture and felt proud to be mothers. "I am very happy that they appreciated us, I feel proud to be a mother," Amal Rawhi, a 39-year-old Jordanian, who gave birth to twins earlier this week, said. "Being a mother is a huge responsibility and the appreciation has added to my happiness," she added. Thirty new mothers were felicitated by Qadi Saeed Al Murooshid, Director-General of the Dubai Health Authority, at Latifa Hospital. Article continues below "This gesture is as per the orders of Shaikh Mohammad. We honour these mothers for the endless devotion and dedication with which they spend their lives caring for their children, who are the future," Al Murooshid said. He presented a certificate of appreciation and gift boxes to 30 new mothers in the hospital, which is one of the largest maternity and children's hospital in the UAE. It was earlier known as Al Wasl hospital. It was renamed Latifa Hospital on Wednesday, as per the orders of Shaikh Mohammad as a homage to his late mother Shaikha Latifa Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan. Shaikh Mohammad issued this directive on the sixth anniversary of his accession as the Ruler of Dubai. The new name, said Al Murooshid, is an honour and the hospital will make all efforts to enhance its services to be worthy of this new title. "Shaikha Latifa's life has inspired our generation and also the new generations. She was a great mother, a great wife and also a great leader. It is a big honour and today, we are here to appreciate new mothers and also to congratulate the hospital employees for this honour." The hospital has one of the largest neo-natal units in the UAE and plans to further expand these facilities. Presently, the hospital has 34 incubators in the NICU section and the expansion will add 18 more incubators to the facility. Dr Abdullah Al Khayat, CEO of Latifa Hospital, said the hospital provides complete support to pregnant women and new mothers so that they can take up their new role with comfort and confidence. He added that the hospital was accredited by JCI in 2007 and re-accredited in 2010. The 444-bed hospital was conferred the ‘Baby Friendly' hospital status in February 2011 by Unicef.