Nestlé Nutrition Institute Africa builds capacity in neonatal resuscitation for Beninese healthcare professionals
Nestlé Nutrition Institute Africa (NNIA) is supporting the organisation of two neonatal resuscitation workshops during the Congress of the Beninese Society of Pediatrics, being held in Cotonou from November 10th to 12th with 80 paediatricians benefitting from the training.
Through this activity, Nestlé reaffirms its commitment to support healthcare professionals’ skills development, which will help them provide better care for mothers and children.
Professor Blaise Ayivi, pediatrician and Chairman of the Congress’s Scientific Committee, and his team also received neonatal resuscitation kits for the practical parts of the workshops. “We appreciate Nestlé’s support to help healthcare professionals improve infant survival through these neonatal workshops,” he commented.
According to the World Health Organization, about one quarter of all neonatal deaths globally are caused by birth asphyxia, making it one of the top three causes of neonatal deaths.
Worryingly, Central and West Africa has the highest rate of infant mortality worldwide, where one in eight infant die under the age of five.
Premature births and low birth weight are two complications in pregnancy that may require neonatal resuscitation skills. The effective delivery of such interventions to help babies breathe at birth can help prevent a large number of infant deaths.
Neonatal resuscitation skills are extremely important in low resource settings where access to antenatal care is poor and the incidence, mortality and burden of long-term effects from birth asphyxia is high.
Healthcare professionals trained during these workshops will organize seminars in their respective institution to share the knowledge and skills learnt with those who could not be present at the workshop.
Such trainings have already taken place in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana and Nigeria. To date, over 4,000 healthcare professionals in Central and West Africa have been trained to reduce neonatal asphyxia and mortality in children aged under five.
NNIA is part of the Nestlé Nutrition Institute, which offers educational services to healthcare professionals in 195 countries worldwide.
