Capacity Building Program for the National Health Care Teams on Developmental Care of the Newborn

The Perinatal Society of Sri Lanka (PSSL), in collaboration with the Family Health Bureau (FHB) and the Perinatal Association of Private Hospitals of Sri Lanka (PAPHSL), conducted a 1 day workshop on “Developmental Care of the Newborn”, exclusively for the health care professionals in the Private Sector.

This was held at the auditorium of Lanka Hospital, on 7th of July 2023, with the participation of 40 nurses and doctors involved in maternal and newborn care, from 8 leading private hospitals in and around Colombo.

The participants were welcomed and briefed about the program by Dr.Dilusha Atukorale, secretary of PAPHSL and council member of PSSL. President of PAPHSL, Dr.Surantha Perera addressing the gathering stated the importance of early interventions of the newborns, to improve the long term neurological outcome of at risk infants, especially premature infants.

The program began with Dr. Asiri Hewamalage, Consultant Community Physician and the secretary of PSSL, updating the audience about the IncluDe Program and Neonatal Care pathways in Colombo District. Booklets about these were also handed over to each hospital. “Importance of Early Intervention” lecture was delivered by Dr.Pyara Rathnayake, Consultant Paediatric Neurologist at Lady Ridgeway Hospital. This was followed by the interactive lecture on “Developmentally conducive NICU environment”, conducted by Dr.Nishani Lucas, Consultant Neonatologist at De Zoysa Maternity Hospital.

After the lunch break, hands on workshops were carried out by a team from “Ayati” centre in Ragama. This team consisted of 2 Consultant Community Physicians, 2 physiotherapists, 2 speech therapists and 1 occupational therapist. Early neonatal interventions were demonstrated by the team and hands on experience was given to all participants in groups.

All participants were actively involved in the program with questions for the speakers. A great positive feedback was given by all hospitals.

This workshop will be of great benefit for the newborns and families who deliver babies in the private sector, as early identification and developmental interventions for at risk babies would have a better long term outcome.