According to UNICEF, “every day, some 6,500 babies die in the first month of life. In 2020, an estimated 2.4 million newborns died worldwide. Globally, every two minutes, a woman dies during pregnancy or childbirth. In 2020, there were an estimated 287,000 deaths worldwide. About 70 per cent of those maternal deaths were in sub-Saharan Africa”.
Since 2000, the OMI conducts an annual Maternal and Infant Health seminar. This year’s course addressed the most pressing controversies in neonatology and maternal fetal medicine. They include GI disorders and infant nutrition, respiratory management, the patent ductus arteriosus, simulation training, twin pregnancies, ethical decision making, postpartum hemorrhage, and care of the infant with chronic lung disease. 34 pediatricians, gynecologists and general practitioners from 25 countries gathered at Schloss Arenberg to learn from world-renowned experts.
Dr. Richard A. Polin, Professor of Pediatrics at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Director, Division of Neonatology, NY Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, served as the course director, marking his 26th time travelling to Salzburg to teach at the OMI. The US faculty consisted of Dr. Martin Keszler (Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island), Dr. Russel S. Miller (Columbia University), Dr. Josef Neu (University of Florida College of Medicine), and Dr. Jean-Ju Sheen (Columbia University). Dr. Andreas Flemmer from the LMU Medical Centre, Munich, Germany, joined the OMI team for the first time. Dr. Friedrich Reiterer from the Medical University of Graz, Austria completed this week’s faculty.
- 34 fellows
- 25 countries
- 20th course in Maternal and Infant Health
Richard A. Polin, MD
OMI Course Director
