Julia asked Sadias to reflect on what learning – and now teaching – the Neonatal Care Course had done for him as a clinician and for the care of newborn babies in Uganda.
Looking back to 2022, when we had our first Neonatal Care Course (NCC) in Uganda, care for the newborns has since never been the same in my work area, considering the fact that Uganda still faces a challenge of high neonatal mortality rate with birth asphyxia being the leading cause (50%).
Whereas the Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) in Uganda stands at 22/1000 live births, I should be proud to share that Kanungu district in Southwestern Uganda where Neonatal care course (NCC) was first introduced (through Bwindi Community hospital in partnership with NICHE International,) is now one of the districts with the lowest NMR at 9/1000 (2025). This improvement has been brought about partly by practical skills training acquired in NCC by NICHE.
As a clinician, NCC has improved my confidence in caring for the newborns, it has given that ability to stay calm and perform effective resuscitation when the baby cannot breath, understanding the delicate physiology of preterm infants and educating mothers and my fellow teammates about neonatal care. NCC has boosted my passion for paediatrics and has inspired me to further my studies and hopefully become a neonatologist some day.
Our NMR as a country is still very high compared to the SDG target of less than 12/1000 live births by 2030, and we are determined to bring it down. With such training like NCC, rolling out to the rest of the national, I strongly believe there will be a huge positive impact.