Our Work
Training and equipping local healthcare workers
Our primary project in 2026 is to continue training healthcare workers in the communities where we serve. The main resource we use to do this is the Helping Mothers and Babies Survive trainings, along with providing continuing education and helping facilities decide next steps for implementation.
The Helping Mothers and Babies Survive programs equip healthcare workers with the expertise and confidence to provide life-saving care to mothers and newborns during childbirth. They’re designed to be taught in low resource settings and address the leading causes of maternal and neonatal mortality.
There are 7 courses in total: 5 Helping Mothers Survive and 2 Helping Babies Survive. We hope to one day soon have the equipment, staff, and translations to teach all of them in the communities where we work.
Why it matters for babies
Of the 5 million children under 5 who die every year, almost half of these (2.3 million) are newborns in their first month of life. Most neonatal deaths (75%) occur during the first week of life, and about 1 million newborns die within the first 24 hours. This is 1 baby every 13 seconds.
There are 1.9 million babies who are stillbirths every year (more than 40% are “fresh stillbirths” which happen because of complications during labor and delivery). This is 1 baby every 16 seconds.
Most of these deaths are in low or middle income countries and most would be completely preventable with skilled birth attendants and basic resources.
One of our main focuses is teaching the Helping Mothers and Babies Survive class, Essential Newborn Care 1 (formerly known as Helping Babies Breathe), to healthcare workers. This is a two-day course on the care of babies from birth to 60 minutes after birth. When healthcare staff are trained, and receive the equipment needed to implement this training, studies have shown that there is a 34% reduction in fresh stillbirths, and a 62% reduction in early newborn deaths. Our team taught this class in 2 countries last year, and have it translated into 2 languages already (hoping for a 3rd in 2026!).
Why it matters for mothers
Of the 300,000 mothers who die every year due to complications during labor and birth, 75% die from 5 main causes:
- severe bleeding (mostly bleeding after childbirth)
- infections (usually after childbirth)
- high blood pressure during pregnancy (pre-eclampsia and eclampsia)
- complications from delivery
- unsafe abortions
Most of these deaths are in low or middle income countries and most would be completely preventable with skilled birth attendants and basic resources.
In 2025, our team taught 2 of these classes, Bleeding After Birth and Essential Care for Labor and Birth, in 7 communities in the Middle East and Central Asia.
Bleeding After Birth addresses the most significant cause for maternal mortality around the world: postpartum hemorrhage. Hemorrhage – or severe bleeding after childbirth – is the largest direct cause of maternal mortality worldwide, responsible for more than a quarter of the 300,000 estimated deaths each year. When healthcare staff are trained, and receive the equipment needed to implement this training, there is a significant reduction in maternal deaths from hemorrhage.
Essential Care for Labor and Birth addresses harmful practices done to mothers by healthcare workers during labor and delivery, as well as teaching infection prevention and respectful maternity care. It builds the capacity of healthcare workers to give evidence-based, respectful care and lowers the number of maternal deaths from infection and complications during delivery.
At the Hamsaye Network, we believe that when local healthcare staff are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and supplies that they need, they are the very best care providers for their own communities.