Bringing Care to Life
Small Baby Series
Our Small Baby Series is designed to improve best-practice care of preterm or low-birthweight newborns.
Nearly one million newborns die each year because they are born too small or too soon, making premature birth the leading cause of death for children under five. Many of these deaths could be prevented with simple interventions that can be taught well with video, yet there were no videos available that specifically address the care of small babies.
The Small Baby Series helps fill this gap. Our videos on the care of low-birth weight or pre-term babies have an important role in preparing health workers and parents/caregivers with the knowledge and skills they need to care for the vulnerable newborns.
Fantastic videos.
Really great, especially the cup feeding one.
It brought tears in my eyes.
Thank you for producing these
very helpful teaching aids,
not only for the caregivers but for the
parents of small babies.
Nester Moyo, Senior Midwifery Advisor, ICM
The video content follows the Essential Care for Small Babies curriculum (2015) developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and based on the latest WHO guidelines. The videos have been reviewed by a number of global newborn experts, including those from AAP and WHO, to ensure they demonstrate international best practices.
While the majority of this series is designed for health workers, several videos are for mothers to help them care for their babies at home.
How our small baby care videos are making a difference
An excellent example of how these videos are making a difference can be seen in Bangladesh, where pre-term birth is a serious problem (one-fifth of all babies born each year). To support the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s training program for nurses and community health workers, the entire Small Baby Series was narrated in Bangla by UNICEF Bangladesh.
Testimonials
I first learnt of your site while working in Special Care Nursery at our Base Hospital. Your videos are shown to mothers to help them understand all things to do with small babies, breastfeeding, tube feeding, etc. Please pass on my gratitude to all mothers and staff involved.
Vicki Fraser, RM, RN, NSW Australia
Absolutely love and appreciate every person who played a role in making the videos.
A video is a simple tool that can be easily downloaded onto a thumb drive and left with anyone with the ability to view them. They are a necessary and lifesaving tool! God Bless you all for all you do to educate men and women around the world, so that women and newborns have a better chance of survival.
Rhonda
Fantastic videos. Really great – especially the cup feeding one. It brought tears in my eyes.
Thank you for producing these very helpful teaching aids not only for the care givers but for the parents of small babies.
Nester Moyo, Global Midwifery Advisor, International Confederation of Midwives
Absolutely beautiful video.
The takes on the baby licking the milk are phenomenal. The Spanish voice over is of great quality. Congratulations!
Dr. Goldy Mazia, Newborn Health Technical Advisor, USAID
The Small Baby series is excellent.
It’s terrific how well you’ve simplified how to calculate right volume of milk. My continuing admiration and appreciation for your good and important work.
Alice Werbel, NP, USA
Acknowledgements
Primary Source
Essential Care for Small Babies, American Academy of Pediatrics, 2015
Content Experts
Susan Niermeyer, MD, MPH, neonatologist
Nalini Singhal, MD, neonatologist
Beena Kamath-Rayne, MD, neonatologist
Yvonne Vaucher, MD, neonatologist
Helenlouise Taylor, MD, pediatrician
Karen Hays, DNP, CNM
Dave Woods, MD, neonatologist
David Southall, MD, pediatrician
Mary Ingvoldstad, RN, on-site support in Uganda
Kathleen Marinelli, MD, on-site support in Bangladesh
Clinical Sites
UGANDA – Kiwoko Hospital, Kiwoko
NEPAL – Paropakar Maternity Hospital, Kathmandu
BANGLADESH – LAMB Hospital, Parbatipur
Health Worker “Actresses”
Bangladesh – Lipi Roy, senior nurse
Bangladesh – Lipi Biswas, nursing officer
Uganda – Christine Otai, head neonatal nurse
Uganda – Hilda Namakula, neonatal nurse
Uganda – Josephine Nakakande, neonatal nurse
Nepal – Megha Mishra Bajracharya, pediatrician
Nepal – Sabina Shrestha Guragain, neonatal nurse
Film Team
Deb Van Dyke – producer, director
Mark Binder – videographer
Bishnu Kalpit – videographer
Talal Jabari – videographer
Tony Bacon – editor
Edmund Earle – animator
Alina Popescu – illustrator, animator
Charlotte Blake Alston – English narrator
Jeanne Bernier – French narrator
Maria Alexandra Granja – Spanish narrator
Funding Support
A grant from the Laerdal Foundation was instrumental in making the Small Baby Series possible. We’d also like to thank our friends and neighbors in the Mad River Valley of Vermont—and beyond—for their steady support for our film series.
We would like to acknowledge Eileen Schoen, Program Manager at the American Academy of Pediatrics, for helping to coordinate technical support with the AAP editorial team.