Tuesday 30 March 2021, at 11-12:30 pm GMT and 1-2:30 pm CET

This webinar deep dived into newly published findings on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on small and sick newborns care and discussed actions needed to protect past gains made for newborns and use learnings during COVID to date to improve health systems to deliver for newborns. 

Introduction: Dr Anshu Banerjee, Director for Maternal, Newborn and Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing, World Health Organization

Part 1: News for newborns in the COVID- 19 era

Evidence and risks - Professor Joy Lawn, Director MARCH Centre, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Reality from around the world - Dr Suman Rao, Medical Officer, WHO HQ

Part 2: Now is the time to act for every newborn, everywhere

Government roles and large-scale innovation - Ministry of Health Malawi: Dr Queen Dube, Director Health Services Ministry of Health, Malawi

Health workforce challenges, adaptations and lessons: Dr. Shamina Sharmin , Newborn and Child health specialist, UNICEF Bangladesh

Part 3: Q&A

Closing: Dr. Luwei Pearson, Deputy Health Director, UNICEF

The webinar was organized by the Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, and the Every Newborn Management Team with the support of WHO and UNICEF.

Now, a newborn dies every four minutes in the Western Pacific Region, accounting for half of all under-five deaths [1]. While this is a great improvement from 2012, many deaths remain due to preventable causes. Early Essential Newborn Care aims to eliminate harmful practices that increase risk of infection, hypothermia and death among newborns including unnecessary separations, suction and procedures.

The Regional Action Plan (2014-2020) aimed to reduce newborn mortality and had specific targets: 1) at least 80% of facilities where births take place are implementing early essential newborn care (EENC) and 2) at least 90% of births in subnational areas are attended by skilled health personnel. The Regional Action Plan used a new coaching-based approach, with an intensive focus on data to drive programming [2]. Dramatic progress, largely funded by countries in the region and delivered by local facilitators in existing systems, has resulted in significant and potentially sustainable practice improvements. Since 2014, an estimated 6017 facilities have begun implementing EENC across nine countries. Seven countries have achieved or are close to achieving the regional target of EENC introduction in at least 80% of childbirth facilities.

This webinar shared the progress and experience of the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific in scaling up Early Essential Newborn Care. It was organized by the Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and the World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific.

Checklist and module teaching aids for EENC available on www.thefirstembrace.org

[1] Level and trends in child mortality: Report 2020

[2] http://www.thefirstembrace.org/de

WHO-MCA-DaNangKMC-VNM

Each year, an estimated 2.5 million newborns die during the first 28 days of life; approximately 80% of these are low-birth-weight, and two thirds are born prematurely. A further estimated 1 million small and sick newborns survive with a long-term disability[1].

This webinar presented WHO’s eight standards of care that aim to guide countries in caring for this specific, vulnerable population. The standards define what is expected and required to deliver effective, high-quality health services for small and sick newborns in health facilities. The standards call for a transformation of the care for small and sick newborns: beyond guidance on clinical care they focus on how that care should be delivered to ensure the developmental and emotional well-being of the newborn. They address issues such as family-centered care, effective communication and managing pain and emotional distress in sick and small newborns.

This webinar presented how the standards can provide a resource for policy-makers, health care professionals, health service planners, programme managers, regulators and professional bodies or technical partners involved in care, to help plan, deliver and ensure the quality of health services delivery. Speakers gave an overview of the  standards’ quality statements, which lists the priorities for improving quality of care for newborns, and their related quality measures, including criteria for assessing, measuring and monitoring the quality of care . Country perspectives on adapting and adopting standards of care were also presented.

The standards of care for small and sick newborns are part of a set of standards for quality of care over the life course. See also WHO’s Standards for improving quality of maternal and newborn care in health facilities published in 2016 and the 2018 Standards for improving quality of for children and young adolescents in health facilities.

This webinar is the last in a series of 13 sessions on ‘Transforming care for small and sick newborns’, that presented the findings of the Survive and Thrive: transforming care for every small and sick newborn report, and shared experiences from on what it takes to improve care for every newborn, including the most vulnerable ones. This series was organized by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, in collaboration with the Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.

Access the summaries, recordings and presentations of the series.

[1] [1] UNICEF/WHO 2019. Survive and Thrive: Transforming care for every small and sick newborn

Summary

1.7 million newborn lives could be saved each year by investing in quality newborn care; almost half of this impact would result from providing special and intensive hospital care for small and sick newborns.

This webinar is a call to action for governments, development partners, healthcare professionals, parents and communities to invest, implement, inform and innovate in order to strengthen care around the time of birth, improve the quality of maternal and newborn care, reduce inequities, harness the power of families and communities and count every small and sick newborn.

The webinar also addressed the importance of modelling and collecting data on maternal and newborn mortality related to COVID-19.  

The session was facilitated by Dr. Gagan Gupta, Health Specialist, UNICEF. 

See also: session 1 of this webinar, on 15 July  8 am GMT

Additional resource:

India's National Response to Tackle Neonatal Mortality' - a talk by Dr. Gagan Gupta,  Health Specialist at UNICEF, at Rice University, Houston, in February 2020: https://www.nest360.org/post/india-s-national-response-to-tackle-neonatal-morality

This is the sixth webinar in a series on Transforming care for small and sick newborns, organized by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, in collaboration with the Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.

See the topics and dates of the whole series

Summary

1.7 million newborn lives could be saved each year by investing in quality newborn care; almost half of this impact would result from providing special and intensive hospital care for small and sick newborns.

This webinar is a call to action for governments, development partners, healthcare professionals, parents and communities to invest, implement, inform and innovate in order to strengthen care around the time of birth, improve the quality of maternal and newborn care, reduce inequities, harness the power of families and communities and count every small and sick newborn.

The webinar also addressed the importance of modelling and collecting data on maternal and newborn mortality related to COVID-19.  

The session was facilitated by Dr. Ornella Lincetto, Senior Medical Officer for Newborn Health, World Health Organization.

See also: session 2 of this webinar, on 15 July  11 am GMT

Additional resource:

India's National Response to Tackle Neonatal Mortality' - a talk by Dr. Gagan Gupta,  Health Specialist at UNICEF, at Rice University, Houston, in February 2020: https://www.nest360.org/post/india-s-national-response-to-tackle-neonatal-morality

This is the sixth webinar in a series on Transforming care for small and sick newborns, organized by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, in collaboration with the Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.

See the topics and dates of the whole series

Summary

While data quantity and quality varies, each country has data that can be used now to drive action and accelerate progress towards mortality targets.

This webinar reviewed the opportunities to improve birth and newborn data quality and availability through routine health information management systems. It looked into what needs to be done to close the gaps in high-priority data to end preventable deaths (survive), ensure health and well-being (thrive) and change how small and sick newborns are cared for (transform).

In addition, speakers shared the experience of Malawi, India and Namibia of using data to help prevent newborn deaths and increase their well-being. An example of the data that is needed to support family-centered care was also presented.

The session was facilitated by Dr. Gagan Gupta, Health Specialist, UNICEF.

See also: session 1 of this webinar, on 1 July  10 am CEST

This is the fifth webinar in a series on Transforming care for small and sick newborns, organized by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, in collaboration with the Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.

See the topics and dates of the whole series

Summary

While data quantity and quality varies, each country has data that can be used now to drive action and accelerate progress towards mortality targets.

This webinar reviewed the opportunities to improve birth and newborn data quality and availability through routine health information management systems. It looked into what needs to be done to close the gaps in high-priority data to end preventable deaths (survive), ensure health and well-being (thrive) and change how small and sick newborns are cared for (transform).

In addition, speakers shared the experience of Malawi, India and Namibia of using data to help prevent newborn deaths and increase their well-being. An example of the data that is needed to support family-centered care was also presented.

The session was facilitated by Dr. Ornella Lincetto, Senior Medical Officer for Newborn Health, World Health Organization.

See also: session 2 of this webinar, on 1 July  1pm  CEST

Additional resources

Malawi experience on using data to improve quality of care for newborns:

• Save the Children brief: Improving availability and quality of routine data for newborns: Malawi's experience with KMC

Measures of parent emotions and feelings or stress factors:

• Impact of Event Scale Revised (IES-R; Weiss & Marmar, 1997
• Profile of Mood States (POMS; McNair, Lorr, & Droppleman, 1971
• Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS; Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet, & Farley, 1988
• Post-Partum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ; Brockington, Fraser, & Wilson, 2006
• Parental Stressor Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (PSS:NICU; Miles, Funk, & Carlson, 1993

Publications on family-centered care:

• NICU Parental Mental Health and Infant Outcomes: Effects of Psychological Well-Being and Psychopathology https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1341&context=etd
• Psychosocial support for parents of extremely preterm infants in neonatal intensive care: a qualitative interview studyhttps://bmcpsychology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40359-019-0354-4

This is the fifth webinar in a series on Transforming care for small and sick newborns, organized by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, in collaboration with the Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.

See the topics and dates of the whole series

Summary

All newborns, especially those who are small and sick, need nurturing care to survive and thrive. Speakers presented effective interventions to promote development, including family-centered care and kangaroo mother care and provided examples of how health care providers and parents can work together to provide nurturing care. They also addressed the importance of screening and monitoring to identify children at risk, and the impact of investments in early childhood development on the human capital.

An example from Colombia will detail the benefits of kangaroo mother care on survival, neurodevelopment and the bonding between mother and infant.

The webinar also addressed the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on early childhood development and ways to support nurturing care during the outbreak.

The session was facilitated by Dr. Tedbabe Degefie Hailegebriel, Senior Adviser for Maternal and Newborn Health at UNICEF. 

See also: session 1 of this webinar, on 17 June  10 am  CEST

Additional resources

• UNICEF Care for Child Development: https://www.unicef.org/earlychildhood/files/4.CCD_-_Counselling_Cards.pdf
• Milestones in Action: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/milestones-in-action.html?s_cid=AAP-MIA-PC6.  (No permissions are needed to use the photos and images in this library for educational or awareness-building purposes).
• Text4baby: https://text4baby.org/, App with simple weekly messages through pregnancy and baby’s first year
• Training kit by the Kangaroo Foundation decided to put the training material  in Spanish, English and French: https://www. fundacioncanguro.co 

This is the fourth webinar in a series on Transforming care for small and sick newborns, organized by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, in collaboration with the Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.

See the topics and dates of the whole series

Summary

All newborns, especially those who are small and sick, need nurturing care to survive and thrive. Speakers presented effective interventions to promote development, including family-centered care and kangaroo mother care and provided examples of how health care providers and parents can work together to provide nurturing care. They also addressed the importance of screening and monitoring to identify children at risk, and the impact of investments in early childhood development on the human capital.

India's experience of promoting family-centered care was also shared.

The webinar also addressed the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on early childhood development and ways to support nurturing care during the outbreak.

The session was facilitated by Dr. Ornella Lincetto, Senior Medical Officer for Newborn Health, World Health Organization.

See also: session 2 of this webinar, on 17 June  1pm  CEST

Additional resources

• UNICEF Care for Child Development: https://www.unicef.org/earlychildhood/files/4.CCD_-_Counselling_Cards.pdf
• Milestones in Action: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/milestones-in-action.html?s_cid=AAP-MIA-PC6. (No permissions are needed to use the photos and images in this library for educational or awareness-building purposes).
• Text4baby: https://text4baby.org/, App with simple weekly messages through pregnancy and baby’s first year
• Training kit by the Kangaroo Foundation decided to put the training material  in Spanish, English and French: http://www.fundacioncanguro.org

This is the fourth webinar in a series on Transforming care for small and sick newborns, organized by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, in collaboration with the Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.

See the topics and dates of the whole series

PRESENTATIONS ARE POSTED IN THE RIGHT HAND MENU

To end preventable newborn and child deaths, care for small and sick newborns requires:

• High coverage of quality neonatal services, with family-centered models of care, organized in a network of facilities with a functional referral system
• Sufficient numbers of health-care providers with skills to care for small and sick newborns, working in partnership with parents and families
• Reaching marginalized populations

An example from Kenya  showed  how data on effective coverage can support evidence-based planning to improve care access and quality. NEST 360 presented the Target Product Profiles that they have developed with UNICEF to support the care of newborns in hospitals in low-resource settings.

See also: session 1 of this webinar, on 3 June at 1 pm CEST

This is the third webinar in a series on ‘Transforming care for small and sick newborns’, organized by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, in collaboration with the Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.

See the topics and dates of the whole series