Each year, an estimated 2.5 million newborns die during the first 28 days of life; approximately 80% of these are low-birth-weight, and two thirds are born prematurely. A further estimated 1 million small and sick newborns survive with a long-term disability[1].
This webinar presented WHO’s eight standards of care that aim to guide countries in caring for this specific, vulnerable population. The standards define what is expected and required to deliver effective, high-quality health services for small and sick newborns in health facilities. The standards call for a transformation of the care for small and sick newborns: beyond guidance on clinical care they focus on how that care should be delivered to ensure the developmental and emotional well-being of the newborn. They address issues such as family-centered care, effective communication and managing pain and emotional distress in sick and small newborns.
This webinar presented how the standards can provide a resource for policy-makers, health care professionals, health service planners, programme managers, regulators and professional bodies or technical partners involved in care, to help plan, deliver and ensure the quality of health services delivery. Speakers gave an overview of the standards’ quality statements, which lists the priorities for improving quality of care for newborns, and their related quality measures, including criteria for assessing, measuring and monitoring the quality of care . Country perspectives on adapting and adopting standards of care were also presented.
The standards of care for small and sick newborns are part of a set of standards for quality of care over the life course. See also WHO’s Standards for improving quality of maternal and newborn care in health facilities published in 2016 and the 2018 Standards for improving quality of for children and young adolescents in health facilities.
This webinar is the last in a series of 13 sessions on ‘Transforming care for small and sick newborns’, that presented the findings of the Survive and Thrive: transforming care for every small and sick newborn report, and shared experiences from on what it takes to improve care for every newborn, including the most vulnerable ones. This series was organized by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, in collaboration with the Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.
Access the summaries, recordings and presentations of the series.
[1] [1] UNICEF/WHO 2019. Survive and Thrive: Transforming care for every small and sick newborn
