Ensure survival of newborns

Photo: Amdadul Huq/ driknews

A newborn has the right to safe delivery, breathing, suitable temperature, breast milk, and to be free from infection.
We have learnt from different sources that though the mortality rate of newborn babies has reduced in the recent years, still 83,000 newborns die in our country each year. Moreover, Bangladesh is among the 10 countries with the greatest numbers of preterm births whereas it is a big threat to the survival of newborn babies. Awareness among people in this regard is very important for improvement of this situation. We have learnt that South India and Sri Lanka have lower infant mortality rate just because people are more aware there. But in our country just because of delayed arrival to the hospital, a number of children die of post-birth health complications.
However, health workers must be resourceful and sincere to make people aware, especially in the rural areas about dos and don'ts during taking care of newborn babies.
It is undeniable that there is a dramatic newborn survival gap between high and low income countries. A report says that half of the babies born at 24 weeks survive in high-income countries; but in the low-income settings, half the babies born at 32 weeks continue to die due to lack of inexpensive and affordable care. Even so, inexpensive solutions can give the newborn babies a second chance to survival, if problems are addressed properly and prevention strategy is strengthened. For instance, “Kangaroo Mother Care” where the infant is held skin-to-skin on the mother's chest to keep it warm and only breast feeding immediately after birth can reduce the death by half in these babies especially those having low birth weight.