AXIS and Adara: Bridging Worlds Challenge

AdaraNewborn

AdaraNewborn is our evidence-based, high-impact model of maternal and newborn care with the power to halve newborn deaths and stillbirths across 10 health facilities in Uganda over the next decade.

This model, pioneered at Kiwoko Hospital in Central Uganda, has delivered strong results. In 2022, more than 86% of sick newborns in the Kiwoko neonatal intensive care unit survived. Since 2010, maternal deaths as a proportion of hospital births have halved, while births have increased by 400%.

Over the next decade, we plan to reach half a million women and children and prevent over 7,000 deaths through AdaraNewborn. We will impact many more communities by sharing our knowledge and resources with health facilities and professionals locally and globally.

Through this work, we will support Uganda to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for maternal and newborn mortality.

The AdaraNewborn model

AdaraNewborn spans the continuum of care, supporting mothers and newborns from pregnancy through to their return home after birth. Four targeted pillars underpin this model. Together they strengthen the health system and save lives.

Regional ‘hub and spoke’ model

To bring our AdaraNewborn vision to life, we use a ‘hub and spoke’ approach. Through this, we will strengthen maternal and newborn care across two health facility networks. A Centre of Excellence serves as the hub at the centre of the network. Surrounding facilities (the spokes) draw on the hub’s expertise to raise its own capacity. This also creates a referral system aligned with the strengths of each facility.

In our first regional network, we are improving the quality of care across Luwero, Nakaseke and Nakasongola districts in Central Uganda. We will select the second network in close consultation with the Ministry of Health.

“The Ministry of Health is recognising our effort in a government setting and the newborn survival rate at Nakaseke Hospital stands at 98%. So we feel like this kind of care in a government setting is reducing neonatal mortality and will help us contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals!”

– Beatrice Niyonsaba, Deputy Director of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health

Inside Luwero Hospital

Luwero Hospital is a public facility and the newest AdaraNewborn site, following the launch of our partnership in early 2023. This is a public facility that registers more than 3,500 births each year and needs to refer many of these babies to other health facilities – including Kiwoko – to receive more specialist care.

The District Health Officer and Medical Superintendent at Luwero requested this partnership as they see the lives of too many women and newborns being needlessly lost.

Partners

Dak Foundation Logo
FREO2 Foundation
Kiwoko Hospital logo
London school of hygiene and tropical medicine
Makerere Centre of Excellence logo
Makerere University Logo

Join us

…to bring quality health and education services to people living in some of the world’s remotest places.

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