Health professionals in the Hardap Region are being equipped with practical skills on neonatal resuscitation and immediate newborn care as part of efforts to reduce preventable neonatal deaths.

The two-day neonatal resuscitation training is taking place in Mariental and brings together midwives and doctors from across the Hardap Region.

The training, facilitated by the University of Namibia's Midwifery Department, focuses on preparing health professionals to respond effectively during and immediately after childbirth.

"As we know already in our country, we still lag far behind the sustainable development goals, which aim to reduce neonatal mortality by 2030 by at least 12 per 1,000 live births. But currently our neonatal mortality rate stands at 24.1 per 1,000 live births. So the main aim for this training is just really to equip midwives and doctors on how to give immediate newborn care and quality care and, of course, to reduce preventable maternal deaths," said UNAM lecturer Helena Nuumbosho.

Facilitators say refreshing the knowledge and skills of health workers is important, as new research and evidence-based practices continue to evolve.

The training also seeks to ensure that health professionals remain aligned with national and international standards and guidelines for newborn care.

"Remember, new information is evolving, and if we don't keep on refreshing the people as they stay so long in the clinical areas, also their faith, their knowledge and their skills, they tend to forget. So that is the reason why we are conducting this training, just to make sure that we refresh them. We refresh them on their knowledge and their skills. Second is also because there is new information that is evolving every day. So new research has been conducted, and they generate evidence-based practice. So we are conducting this training just to make sure that we remain up to date with the latest evidence-based practice in line with both international and national standards and guidelines."

According to Nuumbosho, it is the first time UNAM has been invited by the Hardap Region to conduct a neonatal resuscitation programme of this nature.

She says strengthening the skills of midwives and doctors is critical to ensuring that newborns receive timely and quality care, particularly during the first few minutes after birth.

The training concludes on Tuesday, with participants expected to apply the acquired knowledge and skills in their respective health facilities across the Hardap Region.