Today, we are excited to share that the 4th annual Children’s Prize has been awarded to Drs. Peter Wright and Alka Dev with the Dartmouth-Haiti Partnership (DHP) at Dartmouth College. Under their leadership the $250,000 award will be used to build a model for the reduction of newborn mortality in Haiti. The 30-month project introduces a low-cost, highly effective neonatology service at Hôpital Immaculée Conception (HIC), the referral hospital for the country’s southern region.

Currently, HIC has no capacity for neonatal resuscitation or ongoing respiratory support. HIC needs a neonatal team trained to distinguish and identify stillbirths from newborns requiring resuscitation at birth. The winning plan proposes to: 1) introduce neonatal resuscitation; 2) establish a new neonatal service with capacity for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP); and 3) train key health staff in neonatology care, creating the opportunity to save more lives.

“HIC receives a lot of pregnant women who are experiencing birth complications,” says Alka Dev, DrPH, a research associate working with Dr. Wright. “Unfortunately delivering at the hospital does not ensure the survival of a newborn, even though the mother may survive. Premature babies can be relatively healthy but die from something manageable like neonatal respiratory distress. This project will allow us to provide training and equipment that are essential for saving the lives of these newborns.”

CPF Founder Ted Caplow remarked, “Dr. Wright's proposal aligns succinctly with the mission of the Children's Prize. It is straightforward, scientific and efficient. Founding a neonatal care unit in a significantly low resource setting will require skilled practitioners armed with a robust and streamlined equipment package to ensure the prize investment is maximized. This proposal includes adding a full-time physician to the hospital community to focus on neonatal care, and we believe the impact will be both substantial and direct, especially in a country with so few doctors and limited access to adequate health facilities."

Visit www.childrensprize.org for more information about this project and our previous winners.

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