Background
Indonesia is the fourth most populated country in the world, with 235 million people in 2010. Maternal and newborn mortality rates are unacceptably high and despite efforts made to reach the targets of the Millennium Development Goals, the country still needs to make significant progress to reduce the numbers. In 2008, Indonesia had 26 newborn deaths per 1000 live births. This situation can be improved by increasing health workers’ knowledge and skills on how to resuscitate newborn babies.

About the project
This project was created to improve resuscitation of newborn babies at Dr Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital in Jakarta, in order to decrease the newborn mortality rate. The project team trained the staff members from the labour ward on how to resuscitate newborns by working together in teams of three, in order to achieve the best results. The project team also provided the health workers and the hospital with the necessary equipment to ensure it was always readily available for them to take quick action when needed

Results
By the end of this project, the teamwork approach to newborn resuscitation had been implemented by the health workers at Dr Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital. A newborn resuscitation protocol had been developed and was in use at two hospital departments – the obstetric/gynaecology department and the paediatric unit. The hospital staff’s readiness also improved as the newborn resuscitation equipment was now easily available to them. After the success of this project, the teamwork approach has been extended to manage other emergency health complications related to childbirth.

Year: 2010