Immediate care at birth and neonatal resuscitation in the African Neonatal Network
Keywords:
Infant, Newborn; Infant, Preterm; Resuscitation; Midwifery; Neonatal Nursing; African South of Sahara; Global HealthAbstract
Introduction: Immediate care for the newborn at birth is crucial to prevent neonatal morbidity and mortality from intrapartum related events. These deaths need to be addressed for African nations to achieve targets for Sustainable Development Goal 3.2.
Methods: Fourteen hospitals in the African Neonatal Network responded to an annual facility survey and a health facility survey co - developed by faculty in the African Neonatal Network and Vermont Oxford Network. All analyses use descriptive statistics.
Results: In 10 (71%) of facilities, midwives in the labour and delivery units were most likely to provide routine resuscitation and essential newborn care of both lowrisk and high-risk births. Eleven (79%) of 14 hospitals had a guideline or protocol stating that very healthcare worker involved with births should receive neonatal resuscitation training. For the transfer of inborn infants from the delivery room to the neonatal unit, 9 (64%) hospitals reported having 100% oxygen, 8 (57%) CPAP, 6 (43%) continuous pulse oximetry, and 1 (7%) blended oxygen more than 90% of the time. All the hospitals reported consistent availability of equipment for resuscitation like preterm and term masks; however, self- inflating bags were consistently available in 93% of facilities. Equipment for thermoregulation, such as radiant warmers and garments for kangaroo mother care were consistently available in 71% of the facilities.
Conclusions: As ANN units strive to meet SDG 3.2, this study shows that there is room for improvement with regards to the human resources and equipment available for neonatal resuscitation in these facilities.
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