Global Project to Fight Infant Asphyxia

In a project called First Breath initiative, a global team will undertake to train midwives and traditional birth attendants in resource-poor countries on how to treat newborn asphyxia, a major cause of infant death in those countries.

Newborn asphyxia is a serious problem in countries where births do not occur in a healthcare facility and where birth attendants are not trained in newborn resuscitation. In developed countries, trained healthcare professionals can rapidly take steps to treat asphyxia. The new project will seek to determine if training midwives and other birth attendants in standard infant resuscitation practices commonly used in the United States can reduce the death and disability from newborn asphyxia. The project will be undertaken by the Global Network for Women's and Children's Health Research, sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (Seattle, WA, USA) and the U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (Bethesda, MD, USA). First Breath will be implemented at seven global network sites in South Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Currently, newborn asphyxia claims the lives of one million infants each year, according to the World Health Organization (Geneva, Switzerland). Newborns may stop breathing for a variety of reasons. These include a placental tear during birth or asphyxia caused by a compressed or knotted umbilical cord. Other causes are thought to involve abnormalities of the heart or brain. Once asphyxias occurs, the chances that the infant will survive brain damage are greatest if the infant can be resuscitated early: within the first two minutes after delivery.

"Studies conducted abroad contribute to the health of populations living in those countries as well as to the health of people around the world,” said Danuta Krotoski, Ph.D., acting associate director for prevention research and international programs at the NICHD.




Related Links:
U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Gates Foundation