Essential Newborn Care Course second edition (2022)- Launch of the interim version

The World Health Organization in collaboration with partners are developing the second edition of the Essential Newborn Care Course (ENCC). The material provides the foundation for the essential care of every newborn: immediate care at birth, resuscitation when needed, breast milk feeding, thermal care, prevention of infection, recognition and response to danger signs. This course is part of a set of WHO resources for improving care of newborns; Human Resource Strategies to improve newborn care in health facilities in low- and middle-income countries, Standards for improving quality of maternal and newborn care in health facilities and the Standards for improving the quality of care for small and sick newborns in health facilities.

The second edition of ENCC is competency-based with new features & can be used for both in-service and pre-service settings, different course options, aligned with WHO standards with focus on the rights of newborns, nurturing care, and strengthened links to care in the community. The course materials encourage collection, analysis and use of data in quality improvement activities focused on essential newborn care.  Educational methodologies incorporate active learning and structured simulations. The materials integrate existing newborn courses such as WHO Early Essential Newborn Care coaching and Helping Babies Breathe and Helping Babies Survive, which have been updated and aligned with WHO guidelines.

WHO, UNICEF and partners were able to conduct limited field testing with users due to travel and meeting restrictions during COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this version is released as an interim version for field testing in various settings, countries and regions in order to finalize and publish the 2nd edition of ENCC later in 2022.