BackgroundOver 80% of deliveries in Sudan occur in rural areas, attended by village midwives (VMWs).ObjectiveTo determine the impact of Helping Babies Breathe training and regular peer–peer skills practice (HBBT+RPPSP) on VMW resuscitation practices and outcomes.MethodsIn a prospective community-based intervention study, 71/82 VMWs, reporting to six East Nile rural medical centres, with previous experience in community health research, consented to HBBT+RPPSP. Outcomes included changes in the resuscitation practices, fresh stillbirths (FSB) and early neonatal deaths <1 week (ENND).ResultsThere were 1350 and 3040 deliveries before and after HBBT+RPPSP, respectively, with no significant differences between the two cohorts regarding maternal age, education or area of birth. Drying of the newborn increased almost tenfold (8.4%, n=113 to 74.9%, n=1011) while suctioning of the mouth/nose decreased fivefold (80.3%, n=2442 to 14.4%, n=437) following HBBT+RPPSP. Pre-HBBT+RPPSP9/18 (50%) newborns who had mouth-to-mouth ventilation died, compared with 13/119 (11%) who received bag-mask ventilation post-HBBT+RPPSP. Excluding 11 macerated fetuses, there were 55 perinatal deaths: 14 FSB/18 ENND (6 months pre-HBBT+RPPSP) and 10 FSB/13 ENND (18 months post-HBBT+RPPSP). FSB rates decreased from 10.5 to 3.3 per 1000 births ((χ2)=8.6209, p=0.003), while ENND rates decreased from 13.5 to 4.3 per 1000 live births ((χ2)=10.9369, p=0.001) pre-HBBT+RPPSP and post-HBBT+RPPSP, respectively.ConclusionIn a selected group of VMWs, HBBT+RPPSP was associated with improvements in newborn resuscitation and perinatal outcomes. HBBT+RPPSP could have immense benefits if propagated nationally to all 17 000 VMWs in Sudan.

Aims: This study was conducted to determine the effect of starter culture addition on the physicochemical, microbiological and sensory characteristics of white cheese (Gibna Bayda) during the storage period (5°C/ 45 days). Methodology: Two treatments were prepared: Treatment 1 (T1): cheese manufactured with pasteurized milk with Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus (1:1) at the level of 2% (w/v); Treatment 2 (T2): the control; cheese manufactured with pasteurized milk without starter cultures. After cheese manufacture, physicochemical, microbiological and sensory characteristics were determined at 1, 15, 30 and 45-day intervals. Results: Results showed that the starter culture addition did not significantly (P>.05) affect all physiochemical characteristics of cheese, except for the ash content which was high in cheese manufactured with the addition of starter culture. The addition of the starter influenced the microbiological quality of the cheese, with total viable bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus and yeasts and moulds counts being significantly (P<.05) low. Furthermore, the cheese made with an added starter culture showed high scores of colour, taste and flavour. The storage period significantly affected all characteristics of the cheese, except for the fat content of the control, which remained unchanged during all storage periods. Conclusion: The results of this study show that starter culture (Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus) (1:1) is likely to be a suitable culture for Sudanese white cheese.

No abstract

No abstract