Comprehensive
Neonatal Health Project

CMF’s comprehensive newborn healthcare model is shown effective at addressing 76% of the most common causes of newborn death: 31% prematurity, 28% asphyxia and trauma, 17% respiratory and other conditions.

Using the lessons learnt from Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Program, experience with diverse programming in China and consultations with partners and the China Medical Advisory Board, CMF piloted a Comprehensive Neonatal Healthcare Project to reduce the rate of death of newborns and strengthen healthcare systems.

Working closely with local partners, we have improved healthcare to newborn babies by training West China’s pediatric doctors and nurses in neonatology and by providing key pieces of essential equipment, addressing urgent needs and service gaps. This model provides lasting and sustainable impact.

Neonatal mortality (death in the first four weeks of life), tops the list of preventable causes of child death in China accounting for 60% of all childhood deaths.

(UNICEF China, 2009)

Neonatal mortality (death in the first four weeks of life), tops the list of preventable causes of child death in China accounting for 60% of all childhood deaths.

(UNICEF China, 2009)

CMF provides the training and equipment necessary to establish a specialized hospital unit to improve the care available to critically ill newborn babies. Two doctors and two nurses undergo 6-months of intensive training and clinical experience in neonatology at our national partner training hospitals: the Children’s Hospital of Fudan University, the Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, and Guangzhou Women & Children’s Medical Center. CMF also funds the purchase of specialized life-saving equipment for newborns and provides project management support. Participating hospitals commit to covering ongoing administrative, human resources, and equipment maintenance costs related to the establishment of the unit. This is an extension of our successful NICU program.

Neonatal Resuscitation Training Program (NRE)

The baby may emerge stillborn or born alive but unable to breathe. Unless efforts to resuscitate begin immediately, many babies quickly die of birth asphyxia. In China, intrapartum related account for 28% of newborn deaths.

(WHO and Maternal and Child Epidemiology Estimation Group 2018)

The baby may emerge stillborn or born alive but unable to breathe. Unless efforts to resuscitate begin immediately, many babies quickly die of birth asphyxia. In China, intrapartum related account for 28% of newborn deaths.

(WHO and Maternal and Child Epidemiology Estimation Group 2018)

CMF has set up a Train-the-Trainer program with our national training partner hospitals; 6 healthcare professionals from each participating region attend a week-long training session to become trainers in neonatal resuscitation and basic newborn baby emergency care. These trainers then return to their home hospitals and train at least 120 doctors and nurses in surrounding county, township and village level healthcare facilities. These trainers also provide onsite supervision for each participating doctor and nurse; the unique onsite supervision component of our program will give these healthcare professionals a supervised clinical experience that will help them build the confidence required to use the techniques learned in training.

By training healthcare professionals at the local level we are able to have locally co-developed (with our training partners in Shanghai) training curricula to ensure that the contextual challenges of each region are taken into consideration and that the capacity for NRE training remains in the region.

Only about a quarter of hospitals have a newborn transport system. Specialised emergency transport in sparsely populated and from rural medical facilities in Western China.

(Li, Quiping, Lancet 2021)

Only about a quarter of hospitals have a newborn transport system. Specialised emergency transport in sparsely populated and from rural medical facilities in Western China.

(Li, Quiping, Lancet 2021)

CMF sets up a Mobile Emergency Response Unit (MERU) Program at each participating region and provides the necessary equipment to help transport babies-at-risk in outlying areas to our specialized Neonatal Care Unit hospitals. Most healthcare facilities in rural, remote areas lack the specialized transportation systems needed to transfer critically ill babies to the healthcare facilities where they can receive the specialized treatment they require.

Many families resort to transporting their sick newborn babies without medical support in personal vehicles or on public transportation, or worse, some do not have access to transport and live with the consequences. Our MERU Program outfits an ambulance with the appropriate transportation equipment for newborn babies, and provides guidelines and training to healthcare professionals for the proper transfer of these young lives.

Infant and child mortality is almost 2.7 times higher in the western than eastern regions, 2.4 times higher in rural than urban areas, and 2 to 5 times higher in the poorest rural counties than in large cities.

(UNICEF China, 2009)

Infant and child mortality is almost 2.7 times higher in the western than eastern regions, 2.4 times higher in rural than urban areas, and 2 to 5 times higher in the poorest rural counties than in large cities.

(UNICEF China, 2009)

In China, poor, rural families are often unable to afford the required medical care for their newborn child’s treatment in the intensive care unit. CMF offered financial assistance to families who face the loss of their newborn child simply because they cannot afford life-saving treatment. China’s poverty alleviation programs and local NGO support now fills the local ned. After 7 years of implementation, this program is no longer provided by CMF.

The CMF National Neonatal Network (CMF NNN) is a network that connects CMF’s partner NICU hospitals. As a network of healthcare professionals and hospitals in similar low-resource, rural regions, this network is looking to encourage and support information sharing, standardization, and opportunities for professional development. By connecting health care professionals and their institutions across China, opportunities for learning, growth, innovation and policy change are much greater than if these institutions and individuals were to work independently.

• Improved care for newborn babies
• Reduced death rate for newborn babies
• Training for healthcare professionals
• Equipment and infrastructure for neonatal care
• A replicable, sustainable health care solution

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