Helping Babies Breathe (HBB) is the first module in the Helping Babies Survive (HBS) suite of evidence-based educational programs by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). HBB teaches the skills of caring for healthy babies and assisting babies that do not breathe on their own after birth. With the launch of HBB in 2010, the Helping Babies Breathe Global Development Alliance (GDA) was formed to support an effective and widespread implementation of the program. HBB is now introduced in over 80 countries with 450,000 birth attendants trained and equipped.
As a founding member of the GDA, Laerdal Global Health has supplied more than 115,000 NeoNatalie Newborn Simulators, 200,000 Newborn Bag-Masks and almost 500,000 Penguin Newborn Suctions on a not-for-profit basis to support the roll-out of this program.
Impact
Through a number of large peer-reviewed clinical studies in various countries, HBB implementation has been shown to reduce early neonatal mortality by up to 50 %, and the misclassification of fresh stillborns by up to 25%.
The implementation of HBB continues today. HBB has recently been updated with the latest evidence from WHO and a focus on improving the quality of care. Together, we hope to eliminate all preventable neonatal morbidity and mortality.
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The following organizations were founding partners in the Helping Babies Breathe Global Development Alliance. Once implementation of the program began, the partnership grew to include many more organizations with whom the success of HBB was amplified.
