Experiences of community midwives receiving helping baby breathe training through the low dose high-frequency approach in Gujrat, Pakistan.

Background: Pakistan's neonatal mortality rate has the highest proportion in the South Asian region and it is higher in the rural areas as compared to the urban areas. Poor resuscitation techniques and lack of basic newborn resuscitation skills in birth attendants are contributing factors towards neonatal deaths. Based on the significant outcomes of the Helping Baby Breath (HBB) training, similar training was implemented for Community Midwives (CMWs) in a low-resource setting in Gujrat, Pakistan, to improve their knowledge and skills. The training evaluation was conducted and participant feedback was obtained through both qualitative and quantitative methods. The findings of the quantitative assessment of the training evaluation will be published elsewhere. This paper presents the qualitative evaluation of the training.

Objective: The objective of the study was, to determine the perceptions of HBB trained CMWs about the effectiveness of the HBB training, and the challenges faced in the implementation of HBB skills for newborn resuscitation, at their work settings.

Methodology: The qualitative descriptive design was used in this study. The purposive sampling technique was chosen to recruit midwives and key informants as participants of the training. Interviews were conducted by using a semi-structured interview guide. The study included a total of five interviews: two focus group interviews for CMWs (10 in each group), and three individual interviews of key informants.

Findings: The content analysis of the qualitative data yielded three themes: the effectiveness of training, challenges, and suggestions. The findings revealed that the HBB training was effective for the CMWs in terms of its usability, regarding improvement in newborn resuscitation knowledge and skills. Moreover, it enhanced confidence and satisfaction in CMWs. However, less volume of patients was a challenge for a few CMWs with regard to practicing their skills.

Conclusion: Due to the inadequate number of patients and fewer opportunities of practice for several CMWs, they required such training frequently, in order to maintain their competency. The CMWs also recommended that HBB training should be part of the Midwifery program curriculum. Moreover, similar training was also recommended for other healthcare providers working in low-resource settings, including doctors and nurses.