NICHE International is a small medical education charity aiming to reduce the number of babies who die or suffer significant morbidity in low and-middle income countries in the first month of their lives. 

In many African countries, 10 times as many newborn babies die as in Westen countries. This grant will enable experienced UK neonatal doctors and nurses to volunteer to share their skills with health care workers in Uganda, by teaching a 2.5 day course in basic newborn care, covering basic hygiene, keeping babies warm, early breast feeding, resuscitation at birth, and recognition and treatment of infection.   

To embed the training at local level, 24 participants will be trained as instructors. Each nurse or midwife trained is likely to look after 500 – 1,000 babies/year. As the trained local instructors start to run their own courses, their knowledge and skills will support many more mothers and babies in the years to come.