3.0

credits

Average Course Rating

Child mortality has declined precipitously over the past 25 years, but neonatal mortality has remained largely unchanged. Today, around the world, 45 percent of all child mortality occurs in newborns, and these deaths are overwhelmingly in low-income countries. Prematurity, events during childbirth, and infections like pneumonia and sepsis are the largest killers of newborns, and most of these deaths could be prevented with quality care during childbirth. Students will spend the first half of the course learning the direct and indirect causes of perinatal and newborn mortalityand interventions that have been proven to prevent perinatal and newborn deaths in low resource settings, such as skilled birth attendance, essential newborn care, helping babies breathe, kangaroo mother care, and treatment of the sick newborn. Students will spend the second half of the course working in teams to critically evaluate newborn health in a chosen country and propose a solution that will reduce perinatal and newborn deaths. Students will have the opportunity to present their final project design to a panel of professionals working in international public health. This class is designed to be highly engaging, so students should come prepared to work in groups, debate ideas, and discuss their points of view. Students will also have the opportunity to learn how to treat a newborn who is not breathing at birth, and simulate kangaroo mother care for thermoregulation. This is a Gordis Teaching Fellowship course.