The equipment used in transport must comply with several general characteristics:
• Appropriate for the age group and for the health problems to be managed.
• Lightweight, portable, rugged and easy to clean
• It must be securely fastened in the transport vehicle for patient and equipment safety.
• Tested in transport conditions (temperature, altitude, vibration).
It is essential to have equipment that allows for:
El Código se aplica en todos los países, con independencia de lo establecido en las políticas nacionales sobre la alimentación de los lactantes cuyas madres están infectadas por el VIH. La aplicación del código es fundamental para que no disminuyan las tasas de lactancia materna.
Human milk is the best food for newborns, even if they are small, premature or sick. Breastfeeding improves infant survival, health and development. It is also associated with better neurodevelopmental outcomes and less obesity, hypertension and insulin resistance in adolescence, among many other benefits.
Any type of promotion of breastmilk substitutes, bottles and teats should be completely prohibited at health care facilities, as established by the International Code of Marketing of Human Milk Substitutes and subsequent relevant resolutions of the World Health Assembly. In addition, no free or subsidized donations of breast milk substitutes or other products, gifts or samples may be given to health workers at any health system facility.
Regarding the administration of feeding the premature newborns in intensive care areas, the written breastfeeding policy should explicit issues related to the:
If the newborn’s clinical condition is favorable, skin-to-skin contact should be initiated immediately after birth.
The vital signs of mother and baby should be checked regularly to monitor their well-being. The person accompanying the patient, family member, doula or health care staff should monitor the woman’s wakefulness to protect the newborn’s safety in this vulnerable period.
Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is one of the most serious morbidities in preterm infants (PTNB). It is an inflammatory disease of the bowel that can cause perforation of the gut and peritonitis. Its underlying cause would be multifactorial. Some theories blame intestinal mucosal injury, inflammation and the presence of abnormal gut colonization.
Feeding PTNBs with human milk (HM) seems to have a preponderant role in the reduction of NEC, even if the supply of HM is partial.
As efforts to improve the outcomes of neonatal survival are scaled up, there is an increased demand for access to safe and effective transport.
Improving the procedures related to neonatal transport and the quality of care in critical conditions requires evidence-based technical guidelines as a reference for agencies, facilities, and health professionals responsible for setting health system priorities and policies around newborn transport.
Regionalization poses the challenge of defining where to assign resources to intensive care, transport or prevention and primary care.
Neonatal transport should be seen in the context of regionalized perinatal care, which encompasses the care of the pregnant woman and her fetus, the mother-to-be and her baby.
Surveillance of congenital defects (CDs) consists of: case detection, data collection and submission, coding, classification, analysis, interpretation and dissemination of information. Developing surveillance systems allows countries to have their own data to assess the size of the problem, evaluate its impact from different perspectives and assess the effect of interventions.