Helping Babies Breathe Training Begins for 6 Maternity Facilities in Q1

As we started the year, Bulamu began piloting our newest initiative: training health workers in Helping Babies Breathe and related WHO standards for Essential Newborn Care. Developed by the American Association of Pediatrics, Helping Babies Breathe has been shown to reduce neonatal mortality by 47% in one leading study. In March, we began working with key partners from Rotary of Uganda and leading neonatologist Dr. Margaret Nakakeeto. So far, we have provided Helping Babies Breathe+ trainings to 26 health workers at 6 health facilities that deliver more than 4,000 newborns per year.

Our goal is to provide training and equipment to improve care at 60+ maternity facilities throughout Uganda, supporting 100,000 safer births per year by the end of 2024. Thanks to funding from Rotary clubs in the U.S., Uganda, and Japan, we are now on track to implement our full Maternal & Child Health initiative for multiple maternity facilities beginning in Q2, while continuing to scale up to serve more patients and health workers!

Above: Midwives training in “Helping Babies Breathe” using a NeoNatalie doll developed to build skills and confidence in newborn resuscitation techniques.