A nurse attends to a newborn at the Special Newborn Care Unit, Dimapur District Hospital. (Photo Courtesy: DPO, UIP/RCH)
Kohima, November 15 (MExN): National Newborn Week (NNW) will be celebrated across the state from November 15 to November 21 to reinforce the importance of newborn health as a key priority.
The National Newborn Week, which was initiated by the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2000, was launched with the theme ‘Safety, quality and nurturing care - birth right of every newborn.’
In the state capital of Kohima, the programme was held under the aegis of National Health Mission (NHM), office of the Chief Medical Officer, Kohima along with Naga Hospital Authority (NHAK) in Kohima, a press release informed.
During the launch, Dr Avono Sophie, a Paediatrician at NHAK said that the key domains and activities for the week would include mentoring and quality visits to Newborn Care Units such as Special Newborn Care Units (SNCUs) and Newborn Stabilization Units (NBSUs) and labour rooms, quality home-based newborn care visits (HBNC), Comprehensive Newborn Screening (CNS) at delivery points for visible/functional birth defects, follow up of SNCU/NBSU discharged newborns – SNCU online and follow-up of identified high risk pregnancies (HRP) by medical doctors and health workers across the state.
The release stated that State Programme Officer Dr Thanghoi Lam spoke about the state scenario of newborns as well as the importance of SNCU functioning. The programme was attended by specialists and nurses of NHAK, programme officers from CMO’s office and DPMU Kohima.
The formal launch of NNW was done by Phek CMO Dr Khriezotuo Paphino at Dr Wethselo T Mero Memorial Hall, District Hospital Phek, with the main objective to create awareness about the importance of newborn child survival and development. Paediatrician Dr Seyiekhrietuo Rutsa highlighted the key domains and activities of the week during the programme which witnessed the participation of Medical Officers, Community Health Officers and other medical staff of the district.
At the District Hospital Dimapur, the District Programme Officer for Universal Immunization Programme/Reproductive Child Health (UIP/RCH) Dr Rebecca emphasised on the importance of newborn care as the neonatal period (the first 28 days of life) is a crucial period for child survival. This period carries the highest risk of deaths per day than any other period during the childhood, she said, underscoring that all newborns require essential newborn care to minimize the risk of illness and maximize their growth and development.
The basic needs of a baby at birth are warmth, normal breathing, mother's milk, and prevention of infection. Providing these basic needs to newborn immediately at birth will ensure the baby’s survival and will also prevent many newborn emergencies, she added.
During the week, awareness on newborn care will be intensified in all the block levels during routine immunizations, VHNDs and home-based newborn care visit by ASHAs, a press release informed.
