Bringing Care to Life
World Prematurity Day is November 17
Preterm birth is now the leading cause of death for children under five. One in ten babies are born too soon, often with devastating consequences for the baby and family. World Prematurity Day raises awareness of this problem and what is being done about it.
Global Health Media Project will soon release a series of videos to help health workers care for preterm babies in poor countries. These videos teach basic interventions—such as kangaroo mother care, alternative feeding methods, and infection prevention—that can save the lives of many of these babies. The videos demystify the care of small babies—often intimidating to health workers and mothers—and also model caring behavior and tenderness.
The videos complement the new global curriculum called Essential Care of Small Babies developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). AAP is providing technical support on this video series which has partial funding from the Laerdal Foundation.