Nestlé Nutrition Institute Africa In Partnership With Kenya Pediatric Research To Build Capacity Of Healthcare Professionals

Nestlé Nutrition Institute Africa has entered into a long-term partnership with the Kenya Pediatric Research Consortium (KEPRECON) to support neonatal resuscitation training programmes for paediatric nurses and midwives to help improve the current statistics on neonatal deaths in the country.

The training began in Nairobi at the Pumwani Maternity Hospital where midwives and nurses working in the newborn units of major hospitals attended. The hospitals included Gertrudes, Mater Hospital, Nairobi South, Coptic Hospital, St. Francis, Agakhan University Hospital, Nairobi Women’s Hospital, Jamaa and Eastleigh Health Center. Training will be extended to Mombasa and Eldoret, and 100 healthcare professionals will be trained.

“Neonatal resuscitation is intervention to help babies breathe and their hearts beat after they are born. Currently, neonatal deaths in Kenya stand at 22 per 1 000 live births and we hope this partnership, along with other initiatives currently in place by the Ministry of Health, will contribute to minimising these damning statistics. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that there are more than one million newborn deaths in Africa every day,” said Professor Fredrick Were, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at The University of Nairobi and a member of the Nestlé Nutrition Institute Africa board.

“The rates of antenatal care and skilled birth attendance have declined over the past 10 years, particularly among the poor, and we hope this partnership will go a long way in helping to tackle this issue as well,” said Professor Were.

The neonatal resuscitation training programme content is adopted from WHO essential neonatal care, ETAT+ and evidence-based approaches.