Two Years of Impact with NeoNatalie Live
A journey around the world to uncover the impact of our smart manikin, that enables quality training for neonatal resuscitation.
As we mark two years since the launch of NeoNatalie Live, our smart manikin that enables newborn resuscitation training, we are taking this moment to reflect on the impact the simulator has made, worldwide.
Why is NeoNatalie Live unique and how is it used?
NeoNatalie Live facilitates individual training and team-centred simulation scenarios, allowing healthcare personnel to deliver quality neonatal resuscitation, along with developing a comprehensive approach to the neonatal emergency of a baby who is born not breathing.
With over 840 in circulation, in more than 30 countries, reaching more than 13,000 healthcare personnel, the smart simulator allows for practice on four different resuscitation scenarios. These scenarios are based on inputs from over 1000 real-life situations. One of the scenarios NeoNatalie Live can simulate is the stubborn lung scenario, which is challenging, but important, for birth attendants to manage.
Impact so far
Let us take you around the world, to discover the impact NeoNatalie Live is making.
Save the Children Training in Bangladesh
The project:
Save the Children has been leading a project titled Saving Women and Preterm Babies (SWAP) in Bangladesh. The three-year project has been focused on supporting the delivery and institutionalization of evidence-based lifesaving interventions for pregnant women with complications that have the potential to lead to premature birth, and for small and sick newborns. NeoNatalie Live is being used to enhance trainings, with a particular focus on supporting health workers to practice and retain skills even with the physical absence of a trainer or mentor.
The challenge:
Newborn death in Bangladesh contributes to greater than 60% of under-five deaths, and birth asphyxia, sepsis, and prematurity remain major causes of neonatal mortality. Research has shown that rates of birth asphyxia are around three times more likely in a preterm baby.
“Where time and training opportunities are limited for healthcare personnel, the NeoNatalie Live enables self-directed sessions for individuals or teams with the ongoing objective assessment and feedback. NeoNatalie Live is playing a pivotal role for the service providers in development of skill, efficiency and promoting self-evaluation and knowledge retention in case of newborn resuscitation and survival.” - Project Manager for SWAP, Tamanaa Eshika.
Safer Births Bundle of Care program in Tanzania
The project:
Built on 12+ years of research, development and collaboration, the Safer Births Bundle of Care program launched in one hospital in Tanzania, with an aim to reduce maternal and newborn mortality. Now, and because of its impact, the program is adopted in over 140 health facilities across 5 regions in Tanzania. It centres on low-dose, high frequency simulation training and continuous quality improvement, driven by data. NeoNatalie Live, with its immediate feedback, several scenarios for simulation training, and ability to have an additional data package for greater insights, has played a big part in the program’s overall effectiveness.
The challenge:
Tanzania has made strides towards reducing newborn mortality – but there is much still to do to meet important targets set out in the Sustainable Development Goal 3 by 2030. The strengthening of health care systems, through capacity building and the upskilling of healthcare workers is a key to supporting reductions in newborn mortality. Encouraging repeated on-site trainings, to ensure skills are maintained was a challenge in Tanzania, but the tool has supported this.
“With learning on manikins, like NeoNatalie Live, a person learns little by little, and these skills become ingrained in their hands. So, when they attend to the client, they do it with confidence. I have seen the urgency to respond to emergencies improve too, as people know how to help, for example when a baby is born not breathing. Now when you call for help on the ward, people come and are ready to support you.” - Jaqueline, a midwife and mentor working in an SBBC health facility.
UNICEF Project in Ethiopia
The project:
This UNICEF led-project worked on a cascade model, where a group of 30 midwives from the Amhara region of northern Ethiopia were upskilled in the care for newborns, and then in turn shared that training with their colleagues at health facilities. NeoNatalie Live supported in providing hands-on practice of ventilation, to enhance the learning outcomes of the Essential Care for Newborns (ENC1) and Basic Emergency Neonatal Care (ECL&B) training programs.
The challenge:
Ethiopia has made important progress in reducing maternal mortality in the last few decades, but the burden still remains high, and neonatal mortality rates also sit at over double the target set out in the SDG 3, for 2030. Progress needs to be accelerating to meet these important goals.
“This is not the first time I have got to deliver trainings with NeoNatalie Live, in fact it is the third time. The smart manikin always received positive responses from participants and importantly allows for skills to be refined – making those who have trained on it highly competent in neonatal resuscitation.” - Bizuayehu Agafari, Training Facilitator.
Helping Babies Breathe in Sierra Leone
The project:
Using the Helping Babies Breathe program, Rotary members in Sierra Leone and North America have collaborated to implement an education program spanning from 2022 – 2024, that focussed on neonatal resuscitation. NeoNatalie Live has been used in trainings as part of that program, which has reached more than 650 nurses, midwives and other healthcare workers in Sierra Leone.
The challenge:
Sierra Leone is ranked amongst the countries in the world with highest under-five mortality, and over 30 percent of these deaths occur during the first day of life. More than 90% of deliveries happen in healthcare facilities, but this has not translated to better outcomes for newborns. Instead, the stagnation in newborn mortality has raised concerns over the quality of care. Birth asphyxia is relatively easy to prevent, but prevention relies on the presence of a trained birth attendant that can resuscitate a newborn, if necessary.
“I have used NeoNatalie Live with over 20 students and teachers in my sessions as part of the project in Sierra Leone. The tool was very useful in identifying skill levels and amazingly, some of the more senior health professionals had the most difficulty in achieving the desired results. Since using the equipment, we have certified four further Master Trainer candidates and each of them will be rewarded with a NeoNatalie Live in February 2025, for use in their future training classes.” - Project Manager, Charlotte Israel.
Looking ahead
2025 is an exciting year for NeoNatalie Live, with programs adopting the simualtor expected to expand. There is also increasing interest from the global maternal and newborn health community as it looks to accelerate progress towards the important goals of reducing neonatal mortality, set out in the sustainable development goal 3.
Want to learn more about NeoNatalie Live? Click here.