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What is “Unang Yakap” (First Embrace)?
The Department of Health launched the Unang Yakap Campaign on December 7, 2009.
With this campaign, the DOH aims to cut down infant mortality in the Philippines by at least half, termed as Essential Newborn Care (ENC) / Essential Intrapartum and Newborn Care or EINC.
It is a simple cost-effective newborn care intervention that can improve neonatal as well as maternal care and is an evidence-based intervention that emphasizes a core sequence of actions, performed methodically (step-by-step) is organized so essential time-bound interventions are not interrupted; and fills a gap for a package of bundled interventions in a guideline format.
It is recommended by the Department of Health (DOH), Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) and the World Health Organization (WHO) as the standard of care in all births by skilled attendants in all government and private settings.
It is also a basic component of the Department of Health’s Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and Nutrition (MNCHN) strategy as an expression of the national commitment to achieve United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG) 4 and 5 by the year 2015.
What is the protocol/procedure for Unang Yakap?
The current practice of handling newborns, like clamping and cutting the umbilical cord and washing the baby right after birth, have been known to actually contribute to the high incidence of neonatal deaths and illnesses in the country. Thus the need for a paradigm shift from the prevailing standard procedures into the new protocol.
Health Secretary Duque explained that the ENC Protocol involves focusing on the first hours of life of the newborn with the manual guiding health workers in providing evidence-based essential newborn care.
The protocol involves focusing on the first hours of the newborn’s life with the manual guiding health workers in providing evidence-based essential newborn care. Kindly see the slide below.
Guideline procedures are categorized into Time-bound, Non-Time-bound and Unnecessary Procedures:
- Time-bound procedures should be routinely performed first – immediate drying, skin-to-skin contact followed by clamping of the cord after one to three minutes or until pulsations have stopped, non-separation of the newborn from the mother and breastfeeding initiation.
- Non-time-bound interventions should only be done after the first full breastfeed. These are immunizations, eye care, Vitamine K administration, and weighing. Washing must be postponed by at least six (6) hours as this will hinder the crawling reflex.
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Unnecessary procedures include routine suctioning, routine separation of newborns for observations, administration of pre lacteals like glucose (Kellymom and AlphaParent), water formula and footprinting.
To know more or have a better understanding of what Unang Yakap is all about, please see/view the below public video from DOH and WHO or this eBook provided by the DOH via this link.
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