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Quarterly Newsletter

Quarter Three | 2021

A Note About Our Newsletter
This newsletter summarizes the latest research and resources from the third quarter of this year which we think are noteworthy and may be of interest to our members. We have also highlighted some upcoming events and global days that are relevant to the newborn health community. 

As always, we aim to share the latest information while connecting with our members to promote relevant resources, events and blogs here in the newsletter and on HNN. Please continue to contact our team to submit your resources, events and blogs to the network! 

Important Recent Findings

Scaling up Kangaroo Mother Care in Ethiopia and India: a multi-site implementation research study

What this involves: Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC), prolonged skin-to-skin care of the low birth weight baby with the mother plus exclusive breastfeeding reduces neonatal mortality. Global KMC coverage is low. This study was conducted to develop and evaluate context-adapted implementation models to achieve improved coverage in Ethiopia and India. 

Why it matters:  The researchers for this study conducted an active process of learning by doing with continuous adaptation for KMC implementation in facilities and after discharge home. Their adapted models were fairly context specific and allowed country situations to determine certain courses of action while retaining high fidelity to the principles of implementation of KMC. There are some useful considerations from this manuscript that suggest a way to move forward toward context appropriateness, learning and adaptation, and largely achieving high coverage and quality in both facility KMC and KMC in the week after discharge using Community Health Worker home visits (targeted postnatal care).  

Click here to read the full article.

Monitoring the implementation and scale-up of a life-saving intervention for preterm and small babies: Facility-based Kangaroo Mother Care

What it involves: KMC is an evidence-based intervention with large protective effects on neonatal mortality and morbidity, especially among small babies. Despite the available evidence, KMC adoption, implementation and scale-up has lagged. The purpose of this paper is to inform current and future KMC implementation by identifying achievements and challenges in countries that are in the process of scaling up KMC.

Why it matters: This article documented notable achievements in the dimensions of policy and country implementation across six countries, which were likely driven by government engagement to prioritize newborn care services and the promotion of KMC as a core intervention for small babies. The researchers noted challenges in critical areas such as ambulatory KMC, follow-up, and monitoring and evaluation. Addressing these gaps while securing funding to allocate human resources adequately, promoting acceptance of KMC for demand creation and facilitating the use of data for decision making will be vital to ensure effective coverage at scale.

Click here to read the full article.

Maternal experience of intermittent kangaroo mother care for late preterm infants: a mixed-methods study in four postnatal wards in China

What it involves: China is the second highest contributor to global preterm birth numbers, however, despite this KMC is not widely practiced or promoted in China. A few hospitals piloted KMC to varying degrees but there has been no evidence of its routine practice and no standardised guideline had been developed. This study aimed to describe how mothers of late preterm infants experienced provision of intermittent KMC on four postnatal wards in different hospitals in China under a pilot KMC project.

Why this matters: In this mixed-methods study, researchers found that intermittent KMC was provided to late preterm newborns in short sessions however a number of factors led to discontinuation of KMC sessions and there is certainly opportunity for improvement. In order to improve maternal experience of KMC it is recommended that awareness raising of KMC be included in antenatal care and soon after the birth of preterm newborns, longer periods of KMC provision be encouraged, greater privacy be provided on postnatal wards for mothers providing KMC and family members be encouraged to support KMC.

Click here to read more.

Community-based amoxicillin treatment for fast breathing pneumonia in young infants 7–59 days old: a cluster randomised trial in rural Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India and Malawi

What it involves: Young infants 7–59 days old with fast breathing pneumonia were presented to a primary level health facility to receive a 7-day course of amoxicillin as per WHO guidelines. However, based on these current guidelines, community-level health workers (CLHW) are not allowed to treat these infants. This trial evaluated the success of permitting community level treatment of non-hypoxaemic young infants with fast breathing pneumonia by CLHWs.

Why this matters: This is an important new study reporting that 7-59 day old young infants with fast breathing pneumonia (RR>60) can be effectively treated now as a component of integrated community case management (iCCM) packages (and now just integrated management of newborn and childhood illness (IMNCI)), especially useful in low resource settings and in humanitarian settings. The authors note that the intervention needs to be evaluated under typical (non-study) conditions before implementing in programs at scale. One innovation of the study was the use of pulse oximetry by community-level health workers. The authors note that a subsequent paper will be published on the effectiveness and feasibility of CLHWs using pulse oximetry, including comparison of CLHWs’ oximetry assessments to that of trained supervisors. We are eagerly awaiting more program experience and implementation research.  

Click here to read the full report.

Care of the Small & Sick Newborn Community of Practice

What's the community of practice all about?
The Care of the Small and Sick Newborn community of practice (SSNB CoP) is an online group of practitioners and technical experts with the aim of enabling members to share implementation experiences, lessons learned, and best practices in SSNC. The community provides a platform to disseminate and discuss implementation research results and evidence in the area of facility-based care for small and sick newborns. This CoP is hosted on WHO’s IBP Network and regularly connects through webinars. 

Join the IBP Nework and SSNB group to access webinars, networking, resources, events and much more. You can also subscribe to the CoP mailing list at SSNB+subscribe@groups.ibpnetwork.org. 

The Latest Community Webinars
The SSNB CoP regularly hosts webinars pertaining to the latest discussions and research around care of small and sick newborns. Click the links below for more information on the webinars hosted this past quarter. 

Events

Recap of Events

World Breastfeeding Week, celebrated from 1-7 August 2021 this year, aimed to raise awareness for the importance of breastfeeding. Check out some of the highlights from that week below.

Looking Ahead
Don't forget! HNN has an events section where we track upcoming global awareness days related to newborn health as well as important events, such as webinars and conferences which may be of interest to the network. If your organization has a relevant event coming up that you would like shared on HNN please contact us!
Click on the links below to find out more information on the upcoming global days. We encourage you to check these global day pages regularly as more information and activities will be added. 
  • World Pneumonia Day 12 November- World Pneumonia Day aims to raise awareness about pneumonia, the world’s leading infectious killer of children under the age of 5 -which is particularly dangerous for newborns. 
  • World Prematurity Day 17 November –World Prematurity Day is a critical moment for the small and sick newborn community. If you or your organization will be hosting events or activities related to this day, Please contact HNN with details and we can feature these on the site. You can now directly submit your resources, events, blogs and news on the site.
Share your upcoming events with us!

Upcoming Events from the Network

Did you know?
Approximately 12 million adolescent girls aged 15-19 years and 2.5 million girls aged less than 16 years give birth while nearly 4 million girls undergo unsafe abortions each year in low and lower-middle income countries (LLMIC).

A standard approach is currently used in the content and delivery of care for both adolescents and older mothers (20-34) during pregnancy, delivery, and in the postpartum period. There is a widespread assumption that adolescents are being reached appropriately by interventions that focus on all women using a continuum of care approach. However, existing evidence demonstrates a lower coverage and poorer quality and outcomes of maternal and newborn health (MNH) services for adolescents compared to older mothers.
 
Save the Children in partnership with youth-led organizations, WETEC and UYAFPAH, invite you to a 3-part webinar series targeting policy makers, implementing organizations, adolescents, donor agencies, ministries of health and advocates. The next session to be hosted on the 2nd of November and will focus on how we should adapt existing MNH services to be more responsive to the needs of adolescents and their newborns. 
 
Visit the webinar series page to learn more and register for the next webinars in the series.

Don't Forget to Stay Connected!

Follow HNN on Twitter
Follow us on Twitter @HealthyNewborns for the most up-to-date information on what is happening in the network. Here you will get information on the latest articles when they're released as well as community blogs and information on how to join upcoming events. You'll also see relevant newborn content on key global awareness days and ways to get involved in activities and live Twitter discussions. 

Join the Network
If you are not already a member of the Healthy Newborn Network, click here to join today! As a member you can receive the latest updates and it is also easier to submit your resources, events and blogs. HNN provides a platform for organizations and professionals to share research, program experience, and thought leadership. The network also connects advocates around the world and provides a platform for discussions and interactions on a vast range of newborn and maternal health issues.
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