MBP focuses on saving mothers, babies

DEATHS of newborns and mothers will be prevented in Milne Bay through the maternal and newborn care programme that was launched in Alotau yesterday.
The programme comes under the national “Saving lives – Spreading smiles” (SLSM) programme which focuses on preventing and managing bleeding after delivery, a common cause of death in mothers, and neonatal hypothermia (low body temperature) in newborns.
The non-pneumatic anti-shock garment introduced this year is a low cost external pressure suit designed to stabilise a woman experiencing bleeding after delivery. The hypothermia alert device, known locally as the Bebi kol kilok, used to detect temperature fluctuations in newborn babies will be used to prevent and manage neonatal hypothermia in new-born babies.
Milne Bay Health Authority (MBPHA) acting chief executive officer Dr Jacob Morewaya said the staff of MBPHA had been working hard to reduce maternal and child morbidity and mortality.
“This innovative programme will see a further improvement in those key indicators and more mothers and babies will survive,” he said.
Some 6,000 babies in PNG die every year before they reach four weeks of age.
Neonatal hypothermia is the underlying cause of many deaths, however, 42 per cent of these deaths can be prevented with the correct management of hypothermia.
Morewaya said in Milne Bay the programme would ensure 10,800 newborns and their mothers received the comprehensive package of care to ensure they survived and thrived over the next three years.
Phase one of the programme was successfully piloted by United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), the National Department of Health and the World Health Organisation in 2017.
A further funding support of K9 million provided by the Australian government, K2 million provided by Unicef Australia and a contribution from P&O Cruises Australia and guests enabled the programme will see a scale up and expansion of the programme to the rest of the country.
“This package of care promotes simple cost-effective life-saving practices that are so crucial for mothers and newborns to survive,” Unicef country representative David McLoughin said.
“We thank the Australian government and Unicef Australia for their support for implementation.”