Abstract:
Although the Ministry of health Zanzibar has the target of reducing neonatal mortality to 10 per 1000 live birth by 2020, sufficient progress has not been made to date. Current data shows neonatal mortality rate is 29 per live birth despite the fact that neonatal health is a key priority for the country. The intention of this study was to evaluate the outcome of ENC training for nurses and midwives in reducing neonatal mortality at Mnazi Mmoja Hospital in Zanzibar.
For the purpose of addressing the objectives of this study, a qualitative approach was used to evaluate the training outcome on neonatal mortality among Nurse Midwives. The Midwives were purposively selected as the target respondents based on their ability to provide detailed information to answer the study questions. Interview guide was used to collect the primary data on evaluation of the performance of midwives after receiving the ENC training.
The findings obtained from the interview and documentary review shows that, the midwives at least reflect what they have learnt about for the care provision to the baby. Majority of the midwives understood the requirement and standard of care to neonates. Deaths were perceived as a threat to better quality of services. On the other hand, Midwives do not know how to improve ventilation to the newborn babies who face difficulties in breathing. This is very crucial element toward reducing neonatal mortality. Some other components like death related to breast feeding difficulty (hypoglycemia), improper warm practice including skin to skin contact and warm environment (hypothermia) are either not well practiced.
The study concluded that deaths to under 7 days new born remain static even after the Essential Newborn Care training provided to the midwives, with little down words trends to the babies after 7 (seven) to 28 days. Recommendations were provided in order to overcome available constrains including increased staffing, improved infrastructure, maintain strong supervision and frequently updated knowledge to midwives.
