General Planning Steps
Introduction
Helping Babies Breathe can be offered as an independent educational program or together with other training. For example:- As an expanded resuscitation module of Essential Newborn Care
- As a complement to the neonatal module of Integrated Management of Childhood Illness
- As part of midwifery training for skilled birth attendants (Integrated Management of Pregnancy and Childbirth)
- In combination with maternal and neonatal topics or educational programs of local importance
- A planning team at the regional or national level. This would include representatives from the Ministry of Health, professional societies, NGOs and other key stakeholders, working cooperatively.
- Adequate financial resources to support long term scale-up, including costs for training materials and equipment, therapeutic equipment, training, and outcome measurement.
- Local or regional leadership assistance in identifying local needs, resources, and educational/training gaps.
- Educational planning, program development and delivery at the local level, involving master trainers, course facilitators, and administrative support.
- An organized needs assessment; educational, clinical, and administrative outcome measurement; prioritization and resource development (for both educational and clinical implementation) which involves all levels of participants and service delivery.
Planning Considerations
Success in implementing a large-scale training program will be more likely if certain characteristics are present. These are suggestions drawn from past experiences. Individual situations may vary.- Neonatal care is a national priority.
- Skilled attendance at birth is or will be part of health policy.
- There is a 'core team' that understands the need and works on partnerships and collaboration among interested parties.
- There is coordination among interested organizations and health systems.
- A plan for dissemination of training has been formulated.
- Local authorities have a sense of ownership of the training process.
- Birth attendants themselves desire training.
- Training and the necessary supplies/equipment to put the training into use are available simultaneously.
- Local resources for sustaining the training and supervising implementation are in place.
- Outcome measures are planned in advance and collected as training is conducted and shared with participants.
Timeframe: It generally takes 9-12 months to plan and prepare for training. Actual time may vary depending on factors such as level of existing neonatal care or resuscitation programs/efforts that are already being used locally, role of Ministry of Health, etc.
Phase I — Assessing the environment for program readiness
- Identify the local partners (government ministries/agencies, NGOs, medical facilities, universities, vocational schools) that may already be involved in conducting newborn healthcare or resuscitation programs. If these groups are not already working together in your target area, the first priority will be to initiate this conversation.
- Work with the Ministry of Health and local governments to receive any approvals needed and support for training. Identify everyone who may need to approve/sanction the program. Be flexible as approvals may take longer than anticipated.
- Identify medical facilities where training can be provided, considering the following:
- Geographic location/accessibility
- Conference/educational space
- Travel for attendees to get to training location
- Participation of local coordinator
- Identify experienced health care providers (preferably neonatal and maternal health care) who can be trained as HBB master trainers.
- Identify the appropriate trainees. Partnerships between local administrators and representatives of birth attendants might be helpful to identity and train the maximum number of birth attendants.
- Identify how HBB program data will be collected and reported.
Phase II — Initial planning once preliminary conditions are in place
- Determine what medical units will participate in HBB training and work with them regarding their infrastructure, needs and expectations.
- Work closely with the program manager and master trainers regarding the training process and what will be needed for successful training.
- Determine the number of participants and facilitators needed to accomplish training of providers on a larger scale.
- Determine timeframes for training (time to prepare, receive materials, conduct training, evaluate, etc.) and who needs to be involved when.
- Obtain sponsorship and prepare budget.
- Identify initial facilitators/course leaders and begin to design training program.
