Bringing Care to Life
Keeping newborns warm in the PNG highlands
At the SIL clinic in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, newborns are regularly seen who are cold and stressed. One reason for the problem is the common belief that it is best to immediately separate the baby from the mother and wash him, a situation made worse by the cool-to-cold nights at high elevation (approximately 5000 feet, or 1500 meters, above sea level). The vast majority of the women deliver in their villages, often outside in a secluded place. Grandmothers and untrained village women usually assist with the birth, as trained birth attendants are rare.
The SIL clinic provides antenatal care and education to about 150 local women each month. According to Helen Doss, a pediatrician at the clinic, “After the staff watched Keeping the Baby Warm, they immediately agreed it should be shown to expectant mothers to help them learn what to do to prevent hypothermia in the neonatal population.” The video is now being translated into Tok Pisin—the trade language—so that it can be shown regularly during antenatal visits.