Thursday 17 December 2009

Newborn care key to baby’s survival—DoH - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

"MANILA, Philippines—The current practice of handling newborns, like clamping and cutting the umbilical cord and washing the baby right after birth, have been known to actually contribute to the high incidence of neonatal deaths and illnesses in the country.
“This is a paradigm shift,” was how Director Honorata Catibog, head of the Department of Health (DoH) task force on the rapid reduction of maternal and neonatal mortality, described the new program introduced by the DoH and the World Health Organization.

Proponents of the Essential Newborn Care (ENC) are changing the protocol currently observed by childbirth
practitioners.

The ENC protocol prioritizes drying the newborn and initiating skin contact with the mother before clamping and cutting the umbilical cord. It prescribes a proper sequence of interventions that even a single health worker could perform and calls for initiating breastfeeding within the first hour of life".


Newborn care key to baby’s survival—DoH - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

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