Continuum of Care - Improving Newborn & Maternal Health
Care for adolescent girls should aim to:
- Improve nutrition
- Discourage early marriages and childbearing
- Provide opportunities for female education and literacy
- Reduce the work burden on young girls and women
- Vaccinate adolescent girls against tetanus
Care for pregnant women should aim to:
- Improve pregnant women’s nutrition through diet and nutritional support
- Detect and treat infections, especially syphilis and malaria
- Provide tetanus toxoid vaccination
- Detect and treat pregnancy complications such as pre-eclampsia and bleeding
- Provide counselling to encourage a safe birth and exclusive breastfeeding
Key interventions at the time of birth should include:
- Skilled attendance at every delivery using appropriate and evidence-based practices
- Ensure a clean delivery with clean hands and equipment, dry and wrap the baby
- Initiate exclusive breastfeeding as soon as possible after the birth
- Avoid delay in seeking care and referral
- Provide extra care if needed to resuscitate asphyxiated babies
Care after birth should aim to:
- Provide continued counselling and support for exclusive breastfeeding
- Ensure that the baby is kept warm and with the mother, especially important for low-birthweight babies
- Ensure hygiene through clean cord care and hand-washing
- Advise on the importance of immunisation
- Recognise danger signs, seek help if necessary and treat neonatal infections early
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