Nurses From Nigeria And Vietnam Honoured For Work Saving Newborns

VANCOUVER, August 15, 2016…Three hundred neonatal nursing professionals from around the world today honoured two of their colleagues for their commitment to saving newborns in some of the most challenging work environments.

Nigerian nurse Adeyemo Abass Kola and Vietnamese nurse Nguyen Thi Minh Hong were honoured with International Neonatal Nursing Excellence Awards at the opening ceremony of the Ninth International Conference of International Neonatal Nurses (COINN) in Vancouver, Canada.

The award was presented by Karen New, president of COINN. “These two nurses are brilliant examples of the determination and hard work of so many neonatal nurses around the world,” New said. “We are awed by their steadfastness, sense of purpose, and most of all the hopefulness they bring to sometimes daunting work conditions. Their courage to persevere is saving mothers and infants in circumstances where others might have given up.”

Mr. Kola and Mrs. Hong were chosen from among neonatal nurses nominated by their peers and employers in 14 countries. Nominees were rigorously evaluated and the winners chosen by a team of maternal and newborn health experts from Save the Children and COINN, who have sponsored the award since 2009.  Previous winners were from Ghana, India, Kenya, and Malawi.

“Mr. Kola and Mrs. Hong have inspired us with their leadership and their passion. If more neonatal nurses were properly supported, trained, and supplied with essential medicines and tools, we could help ensure that every newborn – no matter where – had the chance to survive birth and get a good start on life,” said Carole Kenner, COINN’s chief executive officer.

Globally, 2.7 million babies die during their first month of life and 2.6 million babies are stillborn. Over 98 percent of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income settings in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. While most of these deaths are preventable, success depends on the availability, skill, and commitment of the professionals who care for sick newborns.

Unfortunately, most neonatal nursing education programs and recognition of neonatal nursing as a  career occur in high-income countries, where neonatal deaths are relatively rare. Karen Lasby,  president of the Canadian Association of Neonatal Nurses, said, “In low- and middle-income  countries, education and careers in neonatal nursing urgently need to be developed, because they  are absolutely critical to reducing newborn and preterm deaths. We know that technology alone is not enough. Trained and specialty-specific neonatal nurses will provide the greatest impact.” Lasby  said the International Neonatal Nursing Excellence Award “was created to help showcase how skilled nursing care is critical to reduce the global neonatal death toll.”

According to 2015 United Nations estimates, nearly half of child deaths under age 5 occur in the first month of life. The recently adopted United Nations Sustainable Development Goals include a commitment to reduce neonatal mortality to a rate of 12 or less per 1,000 live births by 2030 and for some countries this requires more than doubling their rate of current progress.

Patricia Erb, president and chief executive officer of Save the Children, said “Achieving this ambitious target will require mobilizing all resources, including neonatal nurses and others who provide skilled care at birth. This is especially so in insecure, remote, or inaccessible areas where marginalized or disadvantaged populations live, and places affected by conflict or natural disaster.”

Adeyemo Abass Kola works in the Zamfara state in northern Nigeria, where children face a high risk of death from lead poisoning as a result of unsafe mining practices. Working for Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders), Mr. Kola and his colleagues provide chelation therapy to counteract the lead poisoning and treat other complications and illnesses such as asphyxia,  hypothermia, malnutrition, and malaria.

“What really makes me want to do my work more is the innocence of the babies…. You see them and you just have to help,” Mr. Kola says.

Given the limited resources for neonatal care within his hospital, Mr. Kola has learned to improvise, finding new ways to provide needed care to newborns and their mothers. He hopes to become a specialized neonatal intensive care nurse so he can continue improving the quality of care in Zamfara and support communities to save more newborns and their mothers.

Nguyen Thi Minh Hong works in the rural district of Tram Tau, Vietnam, where poor roads, local customs, and language barriers have impeded access to and knowledge of good health practices around birth. Mrs. Hong has worked for the past 34 years, serving a primarily ethnic minority Hmong population. Mrs. Hong travels nearly two hours to her clinic each day, providing checkups to mothers and newborns, assisting with deliveries, and conducting family planning consultations.

Mrs. Hong has helped drive a change in cultural beliefs that discourage expecting mothers from visiting health clinics. She has learned the Hmong language, which has increased trust in the nurses and doctors who interact with the patients. As a result, pregnant women are increasingly seeking antenatal care at clinics, and more births are being attended by skilled health workers.

“The work is hard and travel is difficult,” Mrs. Hong says, “But I love this job. When a delivery is done I feel so happy to welcome a new baby. And if the baby is not well, we take care of them and they get healthy after our care and I feel so honoured about that.”

Mrs. Hong hopes to continue her efforts to encourage the local population to come to the clinics where she and her colleagues can provide better care for mothers and newborns.

-ENDS-