Saving Babies in Central Vietnam 2016: April 26, 2016 Helping Babies Breathe in Vinh Linh

Handing out certificates

The group!

Warren teaching how to take the bag apart for cleaning and boiling to sterilize.

Nguyet filling out the certificates.

The quads - our Neonatalie babies used for training. They are filled with water so are the weight of a newborn.

Practicing hand washing - an important part of preparing for a birth.

Testing the resuscitation bag. Note that is is an upright bag - a new product.

Having fun while learning.

Our three instructors from 2015.

Three instructors from 2015 doing the initial training demonstration.

Students with Tam on the far right.

The bags given to each student

Betsy teaching

One of our students heading out to lunch.

Lunch restaurant

HOT!

Morning Glories with garlic and peppers - wonderful.

Lunch

Today we started with another amazing breakfast at our hotel, the Friendship Hotel. We then traveled by large van to Vinh Linh for our first class. We have three GCSF staff with us: Tam - the organizer of the program as well as an interpreter, Nguyet - also an organizer and interpreter, and Dat - an interpreter. In addition, we have 3 of the physician instructors trained last year: Le Phoung, Kim Cuc, and Tranh Luan. They are helping us teach the classes this year.

Our 11 students are mostly midwives - not nurses - midwives. Just like nursing schools in the US, one can become a midwife by attending either a 2 year, a 3 year, or a 4 year program. We also have two physicians in our student group (they are training to be facilitators/instructors).

The class went well, with many lively discussions about practice and what can and can't be expected in a rural setting. Many of the midwives deliver babies at rural health clinics. During the day there may be two midwives at the clinic but at night (just like in a hospital) there is typically only one midwife present We talked about what can realistically be expected if there is just one person present for the delivery of a sick newborn.

We went out for lunch and had an amazing selection of food and it is all so good. It is very hot here - in the high 90's F today.

The afternoon was spent finishing the class and practicing skills. A big focus of the class is the "Golden Minute." When a baby is born, we have one minute to get the baby breathing well. Most babies do this without much help. If the baby does not breathe well on its own, we have to breathe for it. If the baby does not breathe, there are many little tasks to do in this minute - suction the mouth, dry the baby off, cut the umbilical cord, suction again, dry and stimulate again, and start to ventilate with a bag and mask. Everyone is timed and has to get the baby ventilated (breathing) within one minute. It can take several tries to get it done and we all have a lot of fun while practicing.

Soup (lunch)

Each student received a bag (thanks to Betsy!) to which we added a bag and mask, a penguin suction, an HBB provider book, and an ECEB provider book. At the end of the class each student received a certificate of completion and many pictures were taken.

Vinh Linh is about a 45 minute drive from Dong Ha and there are 12 of us riding in the van. The trip is interesting as there is so much to see along the road.

At lunch.

Dinner was at Tam's Cafe - a great dinner outside by the river. Relaxing and quiet.

Tomorrow we will teach ECEB (Essential Care For Every Baby) as well as teach an HBB and ECEB Instructor class. It will be a full day indeed.