“Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future”.

– John F. Kennedy –

The protection and care of an infant are in the hands of adults or to be more specific their parents. The first few days of a newborn baby are very important; therefore, they need extra attention and care. Within the first three months, many things happen in regard to hearing, vision, and communication. The relationship with his or her parents is the basis for the adequate development of an infant.

Every year on the 7^th of November, the world observes Infant protection day with the aim of making people aware of the safety of infants and protecting their lives by taking proper care of them. 

According to Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary, an infant is a young child; who is not older than 12 months or a year. The current infant mortality rate of the world is 26.693 deaths per 1000 live births in 2022. We thankfully present that it is a decrease of 2.35% from 2021. As per UNICEF 2020, Somalia ranked as the country with the highest infant mortality rate, with 72.72  deaths per 1000 live births. Due to a lack of proper care and protection after birth, infants face many life-threatening challenges. 

The World Health Organization has introduced some High-quality universal essentials required for new-borns health care to protect against injuries and infections. Every newborn baby should have access to these essential newborn care that is critical for all babies during the first days after birth.  

Essential new-born health care includes the following, 

• Immediate care at birth (delayed cord clamping, thorough drying,  assessment of breathing, skin-to-skin contact, early initiation of  breastfeeding) 

• Thermal care 

• Resuscitation when needed 

• Support for breast milk feeding 

• Nurturing care 

• Infection prevention 

• Assessment of health problems 

• Recognition and response to danger signs 

• Timely and safe referral when needed 

Rather than naming and celebrating one day of a year, adopting proper safety and adequate care towards infants will achieve the real meaning of this Infant  Protection Day. On such a special day, as humans, our focus should be to reduce the infant mortality rate and provide a better place for infants to grow, live and be happy.  

It is our responsibility to raise awareness and protect babies every day throughout the year, not just on this special day.

“That’s all about the natural order of things, the idea of nature protecting children but also children protecting nature.”  

-Hugh Jackman-