ISLAMABAD: With World Prematurity Day being commemorated today (Sunday), Unicef has said that children born too soon can survive if they receive the right care at the right time and in the right place.

New initiatives have been taken by the government in Pakistan and its development partners to reduce preterm births and newborn mortality due to related complications. More than 600 newborns die in the country every day due to complications related to birth asphyxia, prematurity and sepsis.

“Unicef is assisting the Pakistan government to scale up evidence-based cost-effective interventions such as kangaroo mother care across the country to reach most marginalised communities,” Unicef representative in Pakistan Aida Girma said.

She added: “By ensuring high quality care for every newborn, providing nursing care for the best start in life and empowering women and adolescent girls to take decisions concerning their health, precious lives lost due to premature births can be saved.”

The theme for this year’s World Prematurity Day is ‘Born Too Soon: Providing the Right Care, at the Right Time, in the Right Place’.

Preterm birth is one of the leading causes of child deaths under five, as almost 15 million babies in the world are born prematurely and nearly 1 million die due to related complications.

Unicef Pakistan is supporting 12 facilities across the country for maternal and newborn survival – three in Punjab, three in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, two in Sindh, one in Balochistan, one in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, one in Gilgit-Baltistan and one in Islamabad.

These centres are being strengthened to practice and promote implementation of interventions critical for maternal and newborn survival including essential newborn care, use of chlorhexidine for umbilical cord care, kangaroo mother care and the care of very small and sick newborn babies.

Collaborative efforts have helped reduce newborn mortality from 55 deaths per 1,000 live births to 42 deaths per 1,000 live births during the last five years. However, the number of newborn deaths is still high and continued efforts are imperative. Neonatal and infant mortality are likely to be higher for small or very small children, according to the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2017-18.

Small and sick newborns, most of whom are born preterm, have the highest risk of death and contribute to the majority of the world’s disabled children. Over the last couple of years 38 sick newborn care units have been strengthened across Pakistan with Unicef support. The most vulnerable newborns are those in marginalised groups, rural areas, urban slum environments and humanitarian settings.

High quality, affordable care before, during and after childbirth for all women and babies can prevent many maternal and newborn deaths. Good hygiene care can also help prevent multiple infections while early initiation of breastfeeding within the first hour can particularly help prevent deaths.

Unicef emphasised that the reduction in premature births and newborn deaths can be achieved by strengthening health policies and services with focus on maternal nutrition and improving access and care for mothers and newborns.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2019