By Immaculate Karambu
In 1998, Dr John Wachira and other medical student colleagues were sent out to hospitals across the country to work as interns.
That period proved a turning point in Dr Wachira’s career. He discovered a method that is now being used to save babies from death at birth under a programme dubbed Helping Babies Breathe (HBB), which he champions.
His ability to think fast during emergency situations saved many lives and he is sharing the knowledge with colleagues.
“Whenever people talk about emergency, they rarely think about children but focus on adults,” said Dr Wachira.
Local hospitals rarely have Intensive Care Units specifically for children. Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), the country’s largest referral hospital, had existed for a century without one until three years go.
Every year, about four million babies die globally during their first month of life.
According to a 2007 report by UNICEF, three main factors account for more than three quarters of global newborn deaths, commonly known as neonatal mortalities.
Pre-term or low weight births take the highest toll at 27 per cent followed by infections such as pneumonia with 26 per cent and asphyxia ( complications in breathing) accounting for 23 per cent of the mortality rate.
While it is estimated that about one million babies die every year around the world due to breathing complications, a considerably huge number of the three million annual stillbirths can also be blamed on suffocation.
A baby who is denied oxygen during any phase of the birth process faces a serious hazard of suffering permanent injury or disability.
But less than one per cent of the total asphyxia conditions call for medical treatment.
Estimates also show in only seven per cent of births is there usually an attendant at hand with the basic skills to help a baby breathe.
This is the gap that Dr Wachira and others involved in the ongoing HBB programme hope to fill.
The programme began in 2009 and the overall aim is to reduce the number of neonatal mortalities linked to asphyxia.
According to Dr Wachira, simple procedures such as rubbing the baby while keeping it warm can help open the airway and allow breathing.
