The Department of Health embarked on Essential Newborn Care , a new program to address neonatal deaths in the country.

Under the umbrella of the Unang Yakap Campaign, Essential Newborn Care is an evidenced based strategic intervention aimed at improving newborn care and helping cub neonatal mortality. The Essential Newborn Care package is a four-step newborn care time-bound intervention undertaken to lessen newborn death. 1. Immediate and thorough drying to stimulate breathing after delivery of the baby 2. Provision of appropriate thermal care through mother and newborn skin-to skin contact maintaining a delivery room temperature of 25-28 degrees centigrade and wrapping the newborn with clean, dry cloth. 3. Properly timed clamping and cutting of the umbilical cord, (1-3 minutes or until cord pulsation stops) 4. Non-separation of the newborn and mother for early breast-feeding. Immediate latching on and initiation of breastfeeding within first hour after birth. Post-natal care required within 24 hours after birth also includes

Cord care Breastfeeding Vitamin K injection Eye prophylaxis Delayed bathing until 6 hours of life BCG and first dose of Hepatitis B Immunization Newborn screening

The Essential Newborn Care Package aims to reduce newborn mortality rate from 13 deaths (2006 FPS, NSO) to 10 per 1000 live births by 2015. Unang Yakap aims to save newborn lives.

What are these step-by-step interventions?

Immediate drying
Using a clean, dry cloth, thoroughly dry the baby, wiping the face, eyes, head, front and back, arms and legs.

Uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact

Aside from the warmth and immediate bonding between mother and child, it has been found that early skin-to-skin contact contributes to a host of medical benefits such as the overall success of breastfeeding/colostrum feeding, stimulation of the mucosaassociated lymphoid tissue system, and colonization with maternal skin flora that can protect the newborn from sepsis and other infectious disease and hypoglycemia.

Proper cord clamping and cutting

Waiting for up three minutes or until the pulsations stop is found to reduce to chances of anemia in full term and pre-term babies. Evidence also shows that delaying cord clamping has no significant impact on the mother.

Non-separation of the newborn from the mother for early breastfeeding initiation and rooming-in
The earlier the baby breastfeeds, the lesser the risk of death. Keeping the baby latched on to the mother will not only benefit the baby (see skin-to-skin contact) but will also prevent doing unnecessary procedures like putting the newborn on a cold surface for examination (thereby exposing the baby to hypothermia), administering glucose water or formula and foot printing (which increases risk of contamination from ink pads) and washing (the WHO standard is to delay washing up to 6 hours; the vernix protects the newborn from infection). On the other hand, necessary actions such as eye care, vitamin K administration must be timed. Eye care must be done after the infant has located the mothers breast.