Africa-Press – Malawi. In the past 30 years, Malawi has had the most impressive reduction in child mortality of any low-income country. But sadly, this amazingly fast reduction is slowing down.
Every year, 27,000 Malawian children under five years still die, according to published reports. Half of these children die in the first month of life, as new-borns.
If Malawi is to continue its amazing reduction in child mortality, we need to focus more on new-borns. The most common reasons for new-born deaths are infections, problems during labour, and being preterm.
These issues are especially dangerous in rural villages, where treatment options like caesarean sections, antibiotics, and basic new-born care are not possible.
Rural areas also have fewer clinical officers, midwives and nurses. Poverty prevents travel to district hospitals and the use of private clinics. So where should new-born death prevention start? There is no new-born health without maternal health. Routine antenatal care should be strengthened especially in rural areas.
Counselling women about the benefits of early antenatal care and trying to reach all pregnant women as early as possible could prevent diseases like chronic malaria, untreated HIV and syphilis during pregnancy, and ultimately prevent babies from being born too small and preterm. Even stillbirths could be prevented this way.
At health centres and hospitals, good practices during and right after birth could save two-thirds of new-borns and prevent serious complications such as cerebral palsy.
Having enough skilled health workers and adequate training in both labour management and new-born care at health centres and district hospitals is paramount. At the university level, more emphasis should be given to teaching new-born care and early identification of obstetric emergencies.
Developing high-dependency unit care for small and vulnerable new-borns at the hospital level will require increased training and more resource allocation to new-born wards. Finally, teaching mothers about warning signs, adequate breastfeeding, and keeping babies warm can prevent deaths due to infections.
Warning signs are, for example, fever or low temperature, fast or slow breathing, convulsions, irritability, small size, excessive tiredness or no energy to drink milk, yellow skin, or signs of skin infection.
These are all reasons to immediately take the child to a health clinic that has new-born care skills. In terms of the Malawi 2063 (MW2063) vision, preventing new-born deaths is a major priority in realising the Human Capital Development vision.
Healthy and surviving children are the future adults and builders of the society of MW2063. As a proverb says: the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The time to save the new-borns and Malawi’s future is now.
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