ECCD

As part of the “First steps to success” program, Save the Children covers maternal and neonatal health in coordination with the Ministry of Health, at national and local levels. The objective is to reduce peri-neonatal mortality since it has been proven that 60 percent of diseases in children under five years old are related to the quality of care given during this period.

We are part of a national strategy that aims to update the knowledge of health staff and contribute to improve health tools for the development of children under five years old, such as the recent initiative of a “Simplified Development Scale” which is a holistic and complete evaluation of physical, emotional and psychological health thus enabling the detection of deviations during this period and promoting early child stimulation.

Save the Children also leads the “Helping Babies to Breath” strategy which is a helpful tool for providing appropriate care and attention to newborns during the first hours of life, especially to those who are not born in hospitals.  One of the main actions of this initiative is a campaign that distributes neonatal kits in 12 of the 28 public hospitals nationwide which includes basic orientation in breastfeeding practices, stimulation for development, newborn risks and care.