Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Jun 25;18(1):493.
doi: 10.1186/s12913-018-3293-5.

Evaluating quality neonatal care, call Centre service, tele-health and community engagement in reducing newborn morbidity and mortality in Bungoma county, Kenya

Jesse Gitaka  1 , Alice Natecho  2 , Humphrey M Mwambeo  3 , Daniel Maina Gatungu  3 , David Githanga  4 , Timothy Abuya  5
Affiliations

Evaluating quality neonatal care, call Centre service, tele-health and community engagement in reducing newborn morbidity and mortality in Bungoma county, Kenya

Jesse Gitaka et al. BMC Health Serv Res. .

Abstract

Background: Neonatal mortality is a major health burden in Bungoma County with the rate estimated at 31 per 1000 live births and is above the national average of 22 per 1000. Nonetheless, out of the nine sub county hospitals, only two are fairly equipped with necessary infrastructure and skilled personnel to manage neonatal complications such as prematurity, neonatal sepsis, neonatal jaundice, birth asphyxia and respiratory distress syndrome. Additionally, with more than 50% of neonates delivered without skilled attendance, in below par hygiene environments such as home and on the roadsides, with non-existent community based referral system, the situation is made worse. The study aims to evaluate the progress made by an intervention "Collaborative Newborn Support Project" geared towards reducing neonatal mortality rate by 30% between October 2015 and December 2018 in Bungoma County, Kenya.

Methods/design: This intervention will take a quasi-experimental design approach with experimental and control sites. The project will involve pre- and post-intervention data collection with comparison group to assess intervention effects. The primary outcome will be the percentage reduction of neonatal mortality in Bungoma County. Secondary outcomes include; a) Percentage of mothers or care givers able to identify at least three danger signs in neonates in the project area, b) Proportion of neonates with complications referred to specialized neonatal centers, through the call center, c) Percentage of health providers in neonatal care units who adhere to expected neonatal standards of care (rapid and complete application of standard protocols), d) Percentage increase in neonates with severe complications in the specialized neonatal units and e) Percentage of neonates who stay in neonatal care units beyond 5 days.

Discussion: We outline implementation details of the ongoing 'Collaborative Newborn Support Project' in Bungoma County, Kenya. This includes strategies in the operations of the telehealth platform, call centre service, community engagement and measuring of the outputs and outcomes. The funding and ethical approvals have been obtained and the study commenced.

Trial registration: PACTR201712002802638 Retrospectively registered on 5th December 2017 at Pan African Clinical Trials Registry.

Keywords: Call centre; Community sensitisation; Neonatal mortality; Newborn units; Telehealth.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study was reviewed and approved by the Mount Kenya University Ethics Review Committee and assigned certificate number MKU/ERC/0096. Written informed consent will be obtained from individual participants prior to completing study measures or procedures. For the call centre service, verbal consent will be obtained at the beginning of the call after relevant explanations. Parental or legal guardian consent will be sought when minors are involved.

Consent for publication

Not applicable

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Interphase of the telehealth platform and the call centre service
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Liu L, Oza S, Hogan D, Perin J, Rudan I, Lawn JE, Cousens S, Mathers C, Black RE. Global, regional, and national causes of child mortality in 2000–13, with projections to inform post-2015 priorities: an updated systematic analysis. Lancet. 2015;385:430–440. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61698-6. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Wardlaw T, You D, Hug L, Amouzou A, Newby H. UNICEF report: enormous progress in child survival but greater focus on newborns urgently needed. Reprod Health. 2014;11:82. doi: 10.1186/1742-4755-11-82. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Requejo JH, Bhutta ZA. The post-2015 agenda: staying the course in maternal and child survival. Arch Dis Child. 2015;100(Suppl 1):S76–S81. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2013-305737. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Demographic K. Health survey (KDHS): Kenya National Bureau of Statistics; 2014.
    1. Van Eijk AM, Bles HM, Odhiambo F, Ayisi JG, Blokland IE, Rosen DH, Adazu K, Slutsker L, Lindblade KA. Use of antenatal services and delivery care among women in rural western Kenya: a community based survey. Reprod Health. 2006;3(Suppl 1):2. doi: 10.1186/1742-4755-3-2. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types