Teaching Helping Babies Breathe in Atakpamé-Day 1

Today we taught Helping Babies Breathe to about 50 midwives who are from the Plateaux and Maritime regions of Togo. The local instructors we trained in Lomé did great!

Most said that they do not have a bag and mask available in their hospitals yet. So the bag and mask kits that will be given to them at the end of the course will go to good use. The neonatal resuscitation equipment has been purchased by funds donated to the Humanitarian Fund by members and friends of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Prior to the beginning of the course our Team Leader and I attended the Opening Ceremonies. There were representatives of UNICEF, the Pediatric Society of Togo, and the Regional and National Health Ministries. Except for mine, the speeches were quite formal! The UNICEF  representative said that infant mortality in Togo is now about 27 per 1000 (or just under 3% of births). Maternal mortality is 401 per 100,000 women giving birth.

The press was there, and I was interviewed for Togo TV.