Abstract
The problem statement for this student project is: descriptive assessment on hospital neonatal care at Edna Adan Maternity Hospital (EAMH) in Hargeisa, Somaliland. This project is an observational study, which does not include any interventions or comparative analysis, due to inadequate framework to conduct such a study. The mortality among children illustrates massive health challenges in Somaliland. We therefore wish to focus on newborn care, which is an important factor for reaching the goals of MDG 4. We wanted to devote our attention to the procedures and practices implemented in newborn care at a selected hospital in Somaliland, during the first 24 hours of life. We made our own registration chart, which included information about the mother, delivery details, information about the newborn and which interventions being done to the newborn included the clinical examination. During our stay we observed 32 deliveries. Key aspects in our observations included breastfeeding, immunization, vitamin K-injection, care of the umbilical cord, temperature care, clinical examination and resuscitation. We have discussed our findings related to relevant health statistics from the region and recommendations from WHO on neonatal care. Our general impression is that the neonatal care at EAMH has many strengths. In the context of other hospitals in Hargeisa they hold a high standard. The hospital realizes that they have room for improvement, and we have had a desire to shed light on this through concrete proposals to simple measures that can improve neonatal care.