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Nestlé Nutrition Institute Africa trains healthcare professionals on neonatal resuscitation in Ghana

By Victoria Njoku
29 July 2015   |   11:57 pm
Nestlé Nutrition Institute Africa (NNIA), in collaboration with the Paediatric Department of the Volta Regional Hospital in Ghana, organised a series of workshops on neonatal resuscitation between July 21 and 23, 2015. Intended for healthcare professionals involved in the delivery of new-borns, including paediatricians, anaesthetists, nurses, and midwives, these trainings provided them with the skills…
Nestle Nigeria Plc

Nestle Nigeria Plc

Nestlé Nutrition Institute Africa (NNIA), in collaboration with the Paediatric Department of the Volta Regional Hospital in Ghana, organised a series of workshops on neonatal resuscitation between July 21 and 23, 2015.

Intended for healthcare professionals involved in the delivery of new-borns, including paediatricians, anaesthetists, nurses, and midwives, these trainings provided them with the skills to intervene after a baby is born to help it breathe and to help its heart beat.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) about one quarter of all neonatal deaths globally are caused by birth asphyxia. The Volta Region has the highest neonatal mortality rate in Ghana, with birth asphyxia being one of the three major causes of neonatal deaths. Effective delivery of essential interventions to help babies breathe at birth can prevent a large proportion of these deaths. Extreme prematurity and low-birth rates are two complications of pregnancy that most frequently necessitate such interventions by skilled personnel.

Neonatal resuscitation skills are extremely important in low resource settings, where access to ante-natal care is poor and the incidence, mortality and burden of long term impairment from birth asphyxia is highest. Simple interventions, such as drying, warmth, clearing the airways, stimulating the breathing, and bag and mask ventilation within one minute of life, are often sufficient to save the lives of babies.

A bag and mask, essential tools in neonatal resuscitation, were given to each participating facility after the training.

Similar workshops have been organised by NNIA since 2012 in partnership with healthcare institutions and healthcare professionals associations. Over 600 healthcare professionals from Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, and Sierra Leone have been trained to date.

These activities are part of our commitments to provide education programmes to healthcare professionals for the benefit of maternal, infant and young child nutrition and health and aim at contributing to the reduction of new-born mortality rates in Central and West Africa.

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