Our Work
Five connected areas. Each one reinforces the others.
Five Connected Areas of Work
Our work is organized around five connected areas. Each one reinforces the others: evidence strengthens advocacy, family experience helps shape research and policy, quality improvement supports better care, and strong partnerships help good ideas reach more people and last longer.
1. Advocacy & Awareness
We use public education, media, policy engagement, campaigns and patient storytelling to keep maternal and newborn health visible and to advocate for better investment, access and care, with particular attention to preterm, small and sick newborns and their families.
2. Research & Evidence
We work with researchers, universities, clinicians, parents and patients so that lived experience is meaningfully included in research, evidence generation, outcome development and health-system learning.
3. Advancing Quality & Standards of Care
We support stronger maternal and newborn care through quality-improvement initiatives, health-professional learning, safer care environments, NICU support, standards-of-care dialogue and practical implementation activities. Capacity-building is one of the tools used within this pillar, not a separate scope of work.
4. Family Support & Patient Engagement
We support newborns and their families through practical interventions, parent networks, education, psychosocial support and patient representation. At the heart of this work is the Purple Basket Project, AFPNC’s flagship family-support intervention and one of its most established platforms for bringing practical care, information and hope directly to families.
5. Strengthening Stakeholder Partnerships
We build and sustain multisectoral collaboration across government, health professionals, researchers, parent/patient groups, academia, civil society, faith-based institutions, media, private sector and development partners.
Keeping Maternal and Newborn Health Visible, Understood and Prioritized
Advocacy has been central to AFPNC since its inception. Working with partners, families and professionals, we combine public education, media engagement, community mobilization, parent storytelling and policy dialogue to build understanding, influence priorities and advocate for better-quality maternal and newborn care.
“Preterms can survive. Let them thrive.”
AFPNC Rallying Cry
Key Advocacy Platforms
- World Prematurity Day advocacy and awareness, 2015–2025.
- Public, television, radio, digital and community awareness campaigns.
- Maternal and newborn health outreach, including NICU/MITU and family-support activities.
- Advocacy for improved neonatal care, safer NICUs and family-centered care.
- World Breastfeeding Week advocacy and education.
- International Women’s Day maternal-health outreach.
- Zero Separation and Kangaroo Mother Care advocacy.
- RSV advocacy and policy engagement.
- Motherhood Under COVID-19 advocacy.
Historical Community Reach Through Collaboration
AFPNC’s community footprint has been built through collaboration with health facilities, regional health directorates, parent groups, media organizations, private-sector partners, faith leaders and other local stakeholders. Earlier initiatives included prematurity awareness in the Western Region, community education in Weija-Gbawe, outreach to mothers at Effia-Nkwanta, engagement at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, World Breastfeeding Week outreach across six Western Region communities, support to mothers at Budumburam in the Central Region, and international collaboration in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Our community work is collaborative by design: partners provide local knowledge, technical expertise, access and trust, while AFPNC connects these strengths to a wider maternal and newborn health agenda.
A Partner Perspective
“It was particularly insightful listening to the perspective shared by a father of a preterm baby. As a health professional, it reminded me that pregnancy is a whole-family journey. I enjoyed the panel discussions as well. You are doing a good job, and I hope you receive the support to sustain this awareness campaign.”
Genevieve Insaidoo, Paediatric Society of Ghana (PSG) representative
World Prematurity DayFrom Advocacy to Better Care in Practice
Improving quality and standards of care is an umbrella focus for AFPNC. The Foundation works with health professionals, institutions, researchers, families and policymakers to strengthen the environments, knowledge, practices and systems that shape maternal and newborn outcomes.
How We Advance Quality
- Quality-improvement and standards-of-care advocacy for maternal and newborn services.
- Health-professional learning and capacity-building as a quality-improvement tool.
- NICU support, refurbishment and care-environment improvements.
- Promotion of family-centered care, Zero Separation and Kangaroo Mother Care.
- Scientific workshops, technical dialogue and professional collaboration.
- Support for evidence-informed practice, WASH/IPC and safer neonatal care.
A fully integrated mother and baby model of care requires significant changes, including cultural, organizational, architectural, and funding transformations.Dr. Juan Emmanuel Dewez, Chief of Health and Nutrition, UNICEF Ghana, Purple for Prematurity Summit 2024
Selected Quality-Improvement Projects
Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital NICU
AFPNC supported Phase 1 refurbishment and improvement of the NICU environment at Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital in the Western Region, alongside practical support including mattresses and mobilization toward additional incubator capacity.
Stop COVID-19 Spread: Pregnancy & Newborn Care Under COVID-19
In 2021, AFPNC implemented a structured maternal and newborn health response across four regions. In partnership with the Family Health Division of the Ghana Health Service and other collaborators, the project delivered social and behavioral change communication materials, health-professional learning, and family-support interventions.
Purple for Prematurity Scientific Learning
The 2025 Purple for Prematurity program included a scientific training on advancing excellence in neonatal intensive care, organized with Accra College of Medicine and GRNMA, with 80 health professionals participating.
Supporting Families as Partners in Care
Family support is central to AFPNC’s identity. Better newborn outcomes depend not only on clinical care, but also on families having the information, support, and confidence they need to participate in care and navigate an often-difficult journey.
“We must work together to raise awareness, to drive social and behavioral change. Therefore, parents and families affected by prematurity should advocate when needed, voice their concerns when appropriate, and above all collaborate with all stakeholders involved to tackle future challenges in prematurity.”
Mr. Paul Fordjour Jnr., Parent and Patient Advocate, Purple for Prematurity Summit 2024
Wider Family Support Includes
- Practical care packages for mothers and newborns.
- Parent and patient education and health information.
- Psychosocial support and counselling connections.
- Parent networks and peer support.
- Parent/patient representation in research, policy and quality-improvement discussions.
- Support for family-centered care, Zero Separation and Kangaroo Mother Care.
For AFPNC, parents and families are not passive recipients of care. They are partners, experts by experience and essential contributors to stronger maternal and newborn health systems.
Research That Includes the Parent and Patient Voice
AFPNC contributes to research locally and internationally as a parent and patient partner. We work with researchers, universities, clinicians, health institutions and families to help ensure that maternal and newborn health research reflects lived realities and produces outcomes that matter to patients, parents and care teams.
Selected Research Engagement
COUSIN Study
A research study led by the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health, University of Plymouth, aiming to develop a core outcome set for family-centred care in the NICU.
A Research Study on Trauma, Meaning-Making, and Motivation Driving NICU Parent Leadership Engagement in Health Systems Transformation
Gonzaga University.
HOPE Study
Research participation in an initiative of the Global Foundation for the Care of Newborn Infants (GFCNI).
Legal Environment for Optimising Implementation of Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPDSR) in Ghana
A University of Ghana School of Public Health study conducted in collaboration with the Kintampo Health Research Centre, Ghana, focused on the legal and accountability environment needed to strengthen MPDSR implementation.
Parent and patient representation
Parent and patient representative involvement in neonatal-care research and implementation discussions.
Further collaborations
Participation in additional local and international maternal and newborn health research collaborations.
How We Contribute to Research
- Embedding parent and caregiver priorities in research questions and outcomes.
- Bringing patient experience into study design, interpretation and dissemination.
- Connecting researchers with families, clinicians and health-system stakeholders.
- Supporting translation of research evidence into advocacy, quality improvement and policy.
AFPNC helps ensure that research is not only scientifically sound, but also meaningful to the newborns and families whose lives it is intended to improve.
From Public Voice to National Decision-Making
Policy engagement is a major pathway through which AFPNC advances its advocacy agenda. The Foundation contributes patient and family perspectives to strategy, standards, financing discussions and national maternal and newborn health priorities.
Selected National Policy Contributions
- Contribution to Ghana’s national newborn-health strategy, action planning and advocacy processes.
- Participation in Ghana Health Service newborn strategy and advocacy structures.
- Advocacy for increased investment in newborn and NICU services.
- Advocacy for NHIS coverage for newborns receiving NICU care.
- Stakeholder representation in policy discussions and contribution to policy and guideline development.
A Defining Policy Milestone
Following the 2nd Purple for Prematurity Summit and a nationally televised JoyNews dialogue that reached more than 100,000 viewers, AFPNC was invited to present evidence-based recommendations to Parliament’s Select Committee on Health during the 2026 budget deliberations.
The Summit report records Parliament’s unanimous endorsement of the inclusion of NICU-related costs under NHIS, with implementation referred to the NHIA and Ministry of Health.
This milestone demonstrated how a patient-led, multisectoral platform can move maternal and newborn health from public awareness into national financing and policy dialogue.
Bringing African Priorities and Family Voice to Global Newborn Health
AFPNC participates in global maternal and newborn health frameworks, campaigns and parent/patient networks while bringing African priorities and lived experience into international discussions.
Selected International Engagement
- Long-standing collaboration with the Global Foundation for the Care of Newborn Infants (GFCNI).
- Representation of Ghana and Africa at the annual Parents’ Organizations Summit in Munich, Germany.
- WHO-UNICEF Survive & Thrive global framework for small and sick newborns.
- Zero Separation and Kangaroo Mother Care advocacy.
- World Breastfeeding Week.
- RSV advocacy and policy engagement.
- Motherhood Under COVID-19.
- International Women’s Day maternal-health advocacy.
- Collaborative preemie support initiatives with Support Premat in Malawi.
- Collaboration with Preemie Connect and health partners in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Where AFPNC Has Worked, Collaborated and Reached Families
Ghana: selected regions and locations, plus Africa and international collaboration. Select a place on the map to see the work there.
List every region and location
Greater Accra Region
Accra; Korle Bu Teaching Hospital; Greater Accra Regional Hospital/Ridge; Weija-Gbawe; national summits and policy/media engagement.
Western Region
Sekondi-Takoradi; Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital; Western Regional Health Directorate; community and market outreach; NICU support and refurbishment.
Central Region
Budumburam; community outreach and women’s health support.
Ashanti Region
Stop COVID-19 maternal/newborn project; 9 participating health facilities; health-professional learning and Purple Basket distribution.
Ahafo Region
Stop COVID-19 maternal/newborn project; 8 participating health facilities; health-professional learning and Purple Basket distribution.
Western North Region
Stop COVID-19 maternal/newborn project; 12 participating health facilities; health-professional learning and Purple Basket distribution.
Bono Region
Stop COVID-19 maternal/newborn project; 7 participating health facilities; health-professional learning and Purple Basket distribution.
Eastern Region
Eastern Regional Hospital engagement and stakeholder footprint.
Johannesburg, South Africa
Collaboration with Preemie Connect, South African National Blood Service and Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital.
Malawi
Collaborative preemie initiatives through Support Premat.
Munich, Germany
Long-standing participation and representation through the GFCNI Parents’ Organizations Summit.
Help this work go further
Every partnership should help move evidence into action, strengthen families and care systems, and create sustainable impact for newborns and their families.