Healthy Babies│Healthy MothersGHA supports a network of Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) to improve the basic health care services to expectant mothers in Petit-Goâve, Haiti and facilitate referrals of potentially problematic pregnancies and deliveries to the existing health care network. GHA provides TBAs with regular training on basic prenatal care, clean delivery techniques, and post-natal care. This activity helps mothers, families, and communities improve their health while at the same time strengthening local health systems and resources.Chlorhexidine Digluconate for Umbilical Cord Care in HaitiIn 2011, GHA began collaborating with the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing and the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine to conduct an initial pilot study to assess cord care practices in Haiti as well as the potential acceptability of chlorhexidine usage for cord care in home settings. This work was undertaken because each year approximately 390,000 newborns die globally from infection, with Haiti having particularly high child mortality rates. Lack of hygiene and antiseptics (like chlorhexidine) at birth and in the first week of life increase the risk of deadly but preventable infection. Studies in other part of the world have demonstrated that the use of chlorhexidine on the umbilical cord stump of newborns prevents infection and saves lives. GHA and our colleagues continue to work on issues around the use of chlorhexidine in newborns in rural Haiti.