Premium Health Ghana Trains Medical Staff In Helping Babies Breathe (HBB)

Premium Health Ghana, a health care company which serves as a facilitator to international groups aiming to invest into health care in the country, has organised a workshop to train health professionals at Port Medical Centre in techniques to help babies breathe. Although most babies breathe spontaneously at birth, up to 10 percent of newborns require some assistance to initiate breathing, with some needing extensive resuscitation. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that one million babies die each year from birth asphyxia (eg. inability to breathe immediately after delivery). The Helping Babies Breathe (HBB) programme addresses this challenge as well as helping to move forward the Millennium Development Goal #4 (MDG4) in reduction of child mortality by two thirds by 2015. Dr. Evelyn Abena Dumor is a Pediatrician and Managing Director of Premium Health Ghana. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a Neonatal Resuscitation Programme Instructor in the US who has a strong drive to bring clinical knowledge and expertise to Ghana and Africa. She disclosed to XFM's David Apinga during the training programme that, "the HBB programme was established by the WHO and the American Academy of Pediatrics with the objective of ensuring that all babies are born with a skilled birth attendant present who has the ability to resuscitate should the need arise". Explaining the procedure to trainees at the centre in Tema, Dr. Dumor stressed that, " the whole process is to get a newborn baby to breathe in the first minute, known as the 'Golden Minute'. A ventilation device consisting of a bag and mask is secured around the mouth and nose and atmospheric air is pumped through the airway of the child to aid breathing". Fourteen (14) personnel, consisting three (3) doctors, four (4) maternity unit workers and four (4) senior nurses were taken through the training process. Medical Director of the centre, Dr. Nii Anum Aryee expressed satisfaction with the training and lauded Dr. Evelyn Abena Dumor for the initiative. He expressed excitement about the positive impact the training will have on the facility which cares for fifteen (15) pregnant women in a week with an average birth of one, in every two days. He said, �this is the first time we are having such a formal training in HBB involving midwives and non - midwives who act as helpers in birth situations". Dr. Aryee says he will ensure that the hospital continues to train its staff regularly and advised other health institutions to adopt the technology because �the process is not complex and will go a long way to help Ghana achieve MDG 4�.