Activity Description: 95 Percent of underweight children are born in the developing world. Babies who don’t weigh enough at birth are weak and may have respiratory, digestive, and immunitary deficiencies; those who weigh less than 2.5 kg at birth are approximately 20 times more likely to die than heavier infants.

Because many babies in the developing world are delivered at home by traditional birth attendants or midwives who may lack the training and tools to recognize low birth weight, PATH has developed a BIRTHweigh scale that helps low-literate health workers identify low-birthweight children immediately. Once identified, these infants can be given care, such as immediate breastfeeding and warming, or referred for higher levels of medical care. The BIRTHweigh scale compensates for low levels of literacy by supplying pictorial instructions for use.

Most recently, in response to new technologies that may allow newborns to be treated successfully in the home, PATH designed a new version of the scale that can identify three different weight categories. Each of these weight categories corresponds to a different dose of gentamicin, a drug used to treat severe bacterial infections. This empowers more workers to administer the drug and reduces the risk that the wrong dose will be given.

Prototypes of PATH’s latest version of the BIRTHweigh scale, which is in a stage of active development, were successfully field-tested for accuracy and acceptability in Nepal and India in 2004. The scale is designed for local production and distribution, to reduce costs and stimulate economic development in the countries where the scale is used. One of the earlier versions of the scale is already in use in many countries and for sale through UNICEF under the name “BebeWey.” PATH is currently seeking a manufacturer to whom they can transfer the technology for the latest version, so that it will be readily available to community health workers who care for infants suffering from severe infection.