Photo of the Week: Health workers on the frontline for newborn survival

When Regina Obeng visited the premature baby unit at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi, Ghana 20 years ago, she noticed a disturbing pattern: babies would die within a short time of being admitted. “After feeding they were becoming blue. They would stop breathing. Every day there was death”, she says. These observations were a turning point for Regina, who at the time was a midwife working in the hospital's medical ward. She says that many of the nurses at KATH just accepted these deaths but she thought that something more could be done. “I realised there was a need for me to be with preterm babies. They were neglected and needed help”, she says.

Despite having no official neonatal nursing qualifications, Regina became the driving force behind her hospital’s introduction of Kangaroo Mother Care, promotion of exclusive breastfeeding and increased infection control, and after working for 4 years on the premature unit, she became the principal nursing officer in charge of KATH's neonatal unit. Her work has gained not only national but also international recognition, and in 2010, Obeng became one of the first recipients of the International Neonatal Nursing Excellence Award.

Regina’s story shows that with greater investments in the right people, in training and basic equipment, it is possible to make substantial progress in our fight against newborn mortality. The launch of the Frontline Health Workers Coalition earlier this week is a great step towards a healthier world. The Coalition urges the U.S. government to train and support an additional 250,000 new frontline health workers by 2015, and to better support the capacity and impact of existing workers where the need is greatest. The world needs more health workers like Regina, committed and dedicated to improving the lives of the most vulnerable mothers and newborns. 

Adapted from Regina Obeng’s Lancet profile. Photo by Jane Hahn/Getty Images for Save the Children

Related content:

• Video: Watch the inspiring story of Regina Obeng
• Blog: Neonatal Nurses - High value but given low priority, by Joy Lawn and Mary Kinney
• Video: Kangaroo Mother Care - Living Proof in Malawi
• Resource: Frontline Health Workers - Best investment for a healthier world