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Issues Influencing Newborn Health in Guatemala
In Guatemala, 49 percent of the children who die before reaching age five are newborns.With 19 newborn deaths per 1,000 live births, the country has the third highest neonatal mortality rate in the Latin American and the Caribbean region (LAC), following Haiti and Bolivia.[i]
Seventy-two percent of Guatemala’s 9,000 annual newborn deaths could be prevented if existing low-tech and low-cost interventions reached 90 percent of mothers and newborns.Interventions include prenatal care, tetanus toxoid vaccinations, safe and hygienic deliveries, immediate and exclusive breastfeeding and delayed bathing of newborns.[ii]
Save the Children's Support to Newborn Health in Guatemala
Save the Children conducted the first community neonatal health care project in Guatemala, “Maya Salud Neonatal, from 2003-2004 in the Ixil Triangle, a remote region with a relatively high proportion of newborn deaths (33 deaths/1,000 live births), as compared to the rest of the country.After surveying the community to determine local newborn care practices, the project set up women’s groups to educate 3,000 women of child-bearing age about essential newborn care, awareness of maternal and newborn danger signs, and care-seeking.In addition, 90 traditional birth attendants were trained to provide essential newborn care during home deliveries.By the project’s end, more than twice as many mothers reported that their newborns received care within three days after delivery (from 24 to 53 percent) and the number of mothers who were able to recognize maternal danger signs after giving birth increased by more than 150 percent (from 18.5 to 49.2 percent).[iii]
Save the Children's Current Activities in Guatemala
In the same Ixil Triangle region, Save the Children is now conducting operations research to determine how to better provide a timely postnatal care package in community and facility settings. Save the Children provides support to train health personnel and community health volunteers to provide early postnatal care visits to mothers and newborns. The health of newborns in the intervention area will be compared to newborns who are receiving current standards of care as determined by Guatemala’s Ministry of Health. The postnatal visits in the intervention area include weighing the baby, managing breastfeeding problems and identifying maternal and newborn danger signs and referring if needed. Results of the operations research will be shared in 2010 with other partners in the Latin American and Caribbean region to update postnatal care policy and programs in other countries.
Save the Children's Current Activities in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) Region
Save the Children played an important role as a member of the LAC Regional Neonatal Alliance (LAC-RNA), which developed a regional newborn strategy that was approved by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in 2006. The strategy promotes evidence-based interventions in communities and health facilities to reduce neonatal mortality and morbidity in the LAC region. It focuses specifically on reaching the most vulnerable and marginalized population groups. In 2007, the LAC-RNA published Reducing Neonatal Mortality and Morbidity in Latin America and the Caribbean: An Interagency Strategic Consensus in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French. It describes the strategy and the action steps necessary for improving newborn health in the LAC region.
While Latin America and the Caribbean have fewer newborn deaths than Asia and Africa, there are many opportunities for progress. According to Reducing Neonatal Mortality and Morbidity in LAC, only 30 percent of newborns receive postnatal care, and a high proportion of newborn deaths is caused by prematurity. As a result, the Alliance advocates for a strategy to improve antenatal and postnatal care in the region. It also promotes the household-to-hospital continuum of care.
In August 2007, a regional Action Plan was developed to incorporate interventions for different scenarios for the region.PAHO approved the Action Plan in 2008, enabling countries in the region to implement national maternal and newborn action plans.
For More Information
Guatemala: DHS, 1998/99 (Spanish)
Reducing Neonatal Mortality and Morbidity in Latin America and the Caribbean: An Interagency Strategic Consensus Paper English, Spanish, Portuguese, French)
Pan American Health Organization
UNICEF State of World’s Children
Contact Information
Save the Children/US
1a Calle 21-19
Zona 15 Vista Hermosa II
Ciudad de Guatemala
Guatemala
Main Phone Number: +502-2-369-67-67
Fax: +502-2-369-04-66
savingnewbornlives@savechildren.org
Last Updated March 2009
[i] UNICEF (2008) The State of the World’s Children 2009 ( New York: United Nations Children’s Fund).
[ii]Based on Darmstadt , G.L., Z.A. Bhutto, S. Cousens and others. (2005) Evidence-based, cost-effective interventions:how many newborn babies can we save? Lancet 365: 977-88.
[iii] Save the Children (2005) Final Evaluation: Saving Newborn Lives Initiative Guatemala. | 
