Evaluation of Educational Activity with Guatemalan Birth Attendants About Helping Babies Breathe

Abstract

Introduction: Guatemala's Infant Mortality Rate was 20th highest in the world at 18 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2022. Part of the problem is lay midwives (LMs) who attend most births at home lack training in helping babies breathe (HBB). LMs transfer babies struggling to breathe to firefighters (FF). The aims of this mixed-methods pilot study were to evaluate a HBB educational activity, explore LM and FF's lived experience HBB, and to assess if the HBB educational activity changed participants’ knowledge. Methods: Twelve LMs and six FFs (N = 18) participated in focus group discussions, completed a pretest and posttest, and provided quality improvement and demographic data. Results: Three themes emerged from focus group. Participants (1) value partnerships and collaboration, (2) know about newborn delivery and care, 3) desire continuous training to improve skills. A t-test showed a statistically significant increase in knowledge from pretest (n = 18, M = 4.17, SD = 1.295) to posttest (n = 18, M = 5.00, SD = 1.524), p = .024. Participants intend to use what they learned and would not change anything about the educational activity. Conclusion: Participants were satisfied with the HBB educational activity and viewed it as sustainable. Future educational activities should facilitate collaboration among LMs and FFs about HBB to improve Guatemala's IMR.