Physical Health Uganda Project #33098

Support our newborn care training team

by Born on the Edge

Project Report | Jun 13, 2022
Developmentally supportive care

By Adam Hewitt Smith | Trustee

We are excited to tell you that in March this year, we celebrated the inaugural delivery of the NEW 15th Module on the Newborn Care Training Course - Developmentally Supportive Care and Early Intervention. Over the last 8 years, our local team in Uganda has developed an evidence-based, 14-module Newborn Care Training Course. In each facility we partner with, we deliver weekly modules for 14 weeks. The course is free of charge, and we provide handouts, refreshments and a contribution towards transport for all students to enable them to attend.

Since 2014, in partnership with 10 local health facilities, we have delivered this vital in-service training for over 550 healthcare workers involved in newborn care. This much needed 15th module will mean that our babies will begin to not only SURVIVE but also THRIVE. We have already seen a huge change in the approach to developmentally supportive care in the neonatal unit and hope that adding this module to other courses across the region will have wide reaching effects on the development of our young children.

What is developmentally supportive care? Babies in a neonatal unit can face many painful tests, stressful procedures, loud noises, and bright lights. This is very very different to the warm, dark, comfort of their mother's womb. Babies may have trouble comforting themselves when not being held or during tests and procedures. Premature babies need special support to help their brains to mature and develop as they would have done in their mother's womb. So, alongside improving the care of sick and premature babies using machines and medicine, there are treatments that we can use to focus on the special emotional and developmental needs of these babies.

Developmentally supportive care includes many aspects such as:

* Meeting babies’ comfort needs

* Helping babies feel secure

* Helping babies develop normal sleep patterns

* Decreasing stimulation from noise, lights, or procedures

The benefit of developmentally supportive care are huge, especially for our premature babies:

* Shorter hospital stays

* Fewer complications

* Improved weight gain

* Better feeding

* Enhanced parent and infant bonding

All of this is dependent on our newborn care training team. The team continues to expand to allow us to train more and more people. with this comes greater financial responsibility for ourselves. We need to increase our numbers of supporters who donate on a monthly basis. This is where you come in. A small contribution will support the salary of a member of our training team who will have an impact on the lives of hundreds of newborn babies and their families. Imagine how you would feel when you proudly share our story with your friends and family knowing that your support keeps us going and saves lives of some of the worlds most small and vulnerable babies. Thank you.

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