In places affected by natural disasters or conflict, getting medical help during childbirth can be very hard. This puts newborn babies at risk, especially if they need help to start breathing after birth. A program called the PHAID PreHospital Aid initiative has created a simple way for everyday people to help save newborns’ lives. This method is called Basic Newborn Life Support (BNLS), and it teaches basic steps anyone can follow to care for a baby right after birth.This blog is based on information from the article Basic Newborn Life Support (BNLS) for Members of the Public in Natural Disaster and Conflict Areas: A PHAID PreHospital Aid Initiative by Abdul Qader Tahir Ismail, published in the International Journal of First Aid Education (2024). You can read the full article here.
Why Newborn Care Matters
Every year, over 1 million babies suffer from serious problems at birth, and most of these cases happen in low-income countries. Many of these deaths could be prevented with simple care, like:
- Keeping the baby warm: Babies lose heat quickly after birth, which can make them sick or even lead to death.
- Delayed cord clamping: Waiting 1–2 minutes before cutting the umbilical cord gives the baby extra blood and helps prevent anemia.
Unfortunately, in many parts of the world, babies are born at home or in places without doctors or medical tools. In these situations, teaching basic life-saving skills to community members can make a big difference.
What is BNLS?
The PHAID initiative created a step-by-step plan called Basic Newborn Life Support (BNLS) to help people care for newborns when no medical help is available. It focuses on simple actions that don’t need special tools or training.Here are the main steps of BNLS:
- Skin-to-skin contact: Place the baby on the mother’s chest right after birth to keep it warm.
- Drying and stimulation: Rub the baby’s back and head while drying it with a towel to help it start breathing.
- Delayed cord clamping: Wait at least one minute before cutting the umbilical cord to give the baby extra blood from the placenta.
- Inflation breaths: If the baby isn’t breathing, gently blow air into its mouth and nose five times to help it start breathing.
These steps are easy to learn and can save lives in emergencies.
Why BNLS is Important
BNLS is important because it gives people in low-resource areas a way to act quickly when a newborn needs help. Some of its key benefits include:
- Simple and accessible: Anyone can learn BNLS—it doesn’t require special tools or training.
- Life-saving potential: Actions like warming and stimulating a baby can prevent many deaths.
- Community empowerment: It allows people to take action instead of waiting for medical help that may not arrive in time.
As Ismail (2024) explains in his article, “Teaching basic newborn life support can reduce preventable deaths during childbirth in disaster or conflict zones.”
Challenges and Next Steps
While BNLS has great potential, there are still challenges to making it widely available:
- Lack of supplies: Some areas may not even have basic items like clean towels or scissors.
- Training needs: More people need access to BNLS training so they know what to do.
- Follow-up care: Even if a baby is saved at birth, they may need additional medical care that isn’t available nearby.
If you want to expand your knowledge on infant emergency care, consider enrolling in our Infant / Child CPR virtual course. This is especially useful for new parents and other caregivers.
To overcome these challenges, governments and organizations must work together to provide training and resources for communities.
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For individuals who would like to attend our public training programs in one of our training centres, click here.
Conclusion
Basic Newborn Life Support (BNLS) is a simple but powerful way to save lives in places where medical care is hard to reach. Programs like PHAID show that with the right knowledge and tools, anyone can make a difference during emergencies.If you’re interested in learning more about this topic, check out Abdul Qader Tahir Ismail’s article Basic Newborn Life Support (BNLS) for Members of the Public in Natural Disaster and Conflict Areas in the International Journal of First Aid Education. You can access it here.
References
Ismail, A.Q.T., on behalf of the PHAID™ group. (2024). Basic Newborn Life Support (BNLS) for Members of the Public in Natural Disaster and Conflict Areas: A PHAID PreHospital Aid Initiative. International Journal of First Aid Education, 7(1), 1–14.