Neonatal Resuscitation Skill-Training Using a New Neonatal Simulator, Facilitated by Local Motivators: Two-Year...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Neonatal Resuscitation
• Global Health

Background:

• Intrapartum-related complications cause ~2 million perinatal deaths annually, necessitating improved neonatal resuscitation skills.
• Helping Babies Breathe (HBB) training and simulators like NeoNatalie Live are crucial for reducing perinatal mortality, especially in low-resource areas.
• NeoNatalie Live offers immediate feedback to enhance neonatal resuscitation skill acquisition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of introducing "local motivators" on neonatal resuscitation training frequency, staff participation, and simulated ventilation quality.
• To assess changes in skill-training metrics before and after implementing a motivation strategy in a rural Tanzanian hospital.
• To understand the role of immediate simulator feedback in enhancing training motivation and performance.

Main Methods:

• A quasi-experimental study involving midwives (n=15-27) in a Tanzanian hospital with 4000-5000 annual deliveries.
• Implementation of in situ low-dose high-frequency simulation skill-training using NeoNatalie Live over 24 months (Sept 2016 - Aug 2018).
• Automatic recording of training frequency and quality via the NeoNatalie Live simulator, with analysis of data before and after October 2017 (introduction of motivators).

Main Results:

• Skill-training frequency increased dramatically from 688 sessions (12 months) to 8451 sessions (11 months) post-motivator introduction.
• Midwife participation rose from 43% to 74% after the implementation of local motivators.
• The quality of simulated ventilation performance, indicated by "well done" feedback, improved from 75% to 91%.

Conclusions:

• The introduction of dedicated motivators significantly enhanced the frequency, participation, and quality of neonatal resuscitation skill-training.
• The NeoNatalie Live simulator's immediate feedback mechanism likely contributed to increased motivation and improved training performance.
• These findings suggest that targeted motivational strategies combined with effective simulation tools can substantially improve essential obstetric and neonatal care skills in resource-limited settings.