top of page

©2025 Global Newborn Society, "Every Baby Counts"

Illustration
Challenges
Environment
Emotions
Infant
Thanks
Sky
Ocean
Boat

In this massively-linked hypertext, we describe our logo - a symbolic presentation of the aims of our organization. Babies need advocacy as they do not talk or vote themselves, and hence this long page in all its detail. Our goal is to help reduce neonatal morbidity and mortality. The red-highlighted locator links below show the themes of the following paragraphs with the larger message of this page.

Our infant
Illustration
Challenges
Environment
           Sky
           Boat
           Ocean
Emotions
Gratitude

The childlike art in this logo features a lovable little infant showing innocent, genuine happiness. Infancy is an exciting but also a high-risk phase in life. The smile on the infant's face engages readers; evolutionary and psychological adaptations evoke positive emotions in caregivers. By showing a baby with no skin color, and knowing that facial features such as those curly hair, prominent eyes, that cute little nose, and the long eyelashes are not always specific for geographic origin, ethnicity, race, genetics, or gender, the artist has stressed that most health problems of babies are likely related to physiological immaturity than to other factors. The yellow-colored feeding bib reminds of the happiness, hope, and spontaneity of this age. However, during critical illness, infant mortality rises to that seen in 60-year-old adults. The little globe on this bib shows conformal cylindrical world map that possibly is regionally-corrected for area as in the Equal Earth/Gall-Peters presentations; Africa and other peri-equatorial/tropical regions look appropriately larger than in the usual Mercator's projection. This reminds us that our healthcare campaigns also need to be prioritized on true needs - the North/South and East/West may differ in financial resources but that is not always the case in healthcare concerns. To save babies, we all need to work together.

In this logo, we
broke with tradition to design a human-centered, conceptual/editorial illustration instead of a more conventional linear or geometric drawing. This graphic presented our philosophy in a rational, comprehensive fashion; access to computers has brought a paradigm shift - a "copy and paste" is now all it takes to reproduce a depiction. We claim no expertise in designing logos, but each element here was chosen after due thought. This line of reasoning could look like a self-justifying explanation for a simple-looking schema. And therefore, to convince you, we have exhaustively hyperlinked the key components in this description to external websites - we sang our hearts out without having to repeat many of the known rhythmic rhymes. This large number of external links also helped in communication as many members of our global organization do not speak English as a primary language, and we strongly believe that anglophony should not be equated with professional excellence. There were some concerns that too many colored phrases in the text could be distracting. Therefore, we compared links shown in the traditional blue format against "underscoring without any color". Coloring worked better for unclear reasons; it may be rooted in how our brains register new information. We did have to remove abbreviations as these were slowing us down in scanning the site. All said and done, this narrative is still no archival aviary; it remains a work in progress as is often the case while a case is still being made. If you see errors that we have missed, please let us know!


Infancy should be a pleasant phase in life, but it can also bring challenges. We need to improve awareness, education, and possibly, develop mass-scale genetic screening programs. The first look at this logo baby evokes love and affection but a closer inspection may also trigger anxiety - do the external ears look 'simplified' without mature folds? Questions may keep arising - are the eyes too far apart? Upper eyelid retraction? Unusual eyelashes? A small nose? Is the upper lip too thin, or is the normal midline groove between the upper lip and the nostrils missing? Wide-open mouth? Congenital fusion of bones around elbow joints and in digits? Isolated 'minor' anomalies may not always be a reason for concern but if associated with multiple other birth defects, further evaluation might be needed. Globally, unusually-formed organ systems are one of 4 major causes of suffering in infants other than difficulties with the first breath, infections, and prematurity. The creases on the forehead and a seemingly larger head than the body suggest that the baby could be small for gestational age. In some regions, maternal use of illicit drugs is another concern. All in all, babies need timely diagnosis and management.

The environment can be difficult. This logo shows the vulnerability of young infants - a baby floating all alone in an open boat in an ocean. The lighter shades of blue in the sky could look pleasant during good health, but during crises, the same may begin to appear lonely, featureless, and overwhelmingThe world could come across as indifferent. The sky is cloudless, the ocean is silent. It could well be a quiet zone, but what if it is not? Could this be the calm before, or the eye of, a storm? This is where we can make a difference by supporting the ill infant and the family in their struggles on multiple fronts

The boat, at least for now, looks stable. The initialisms on its gunwale, the G, N, and S, are the pillars of strength: Global coordination, Newborn health, and Social organization. The black color of these letters reminds of iron and its strength. Some rough folds can be seen in the cast metal in the letters G and S, but not in N - it is the outside world, not babies, that still needs to shape up - we as adults need to polish the cradle and ensure safety of newborn infants. The lower parts of the letters G of global and N of newborn show a strong connection, possibly symbolizing the long-standing efforts all over the world to reduce newborn mortality. There is a still a small noticeable gap between letter N and the lower arc of S, our organization; we will continue polishing our bond to make it more effective. The letter G shows a sharp, pointed upper end  symbolizing unnoticed dangers in the world, and consequently, a need for protective efforts. This was one thought-process. Interestingly, some of the other leaders did not find these letters so metallic but saw strings of a protective bow-tie swaddle that safely covered our baby. Another set of viewers saw the infant as the guide, not a passive traveler, despite all developmental limitations. Here, the driver was viewed as holding the handlebars on the bow of a personal jet ski. The right hand gripped the cross-bar connection in the letter G and the left held the lower arc of S, which was an offshoot from its spine. The inward-pointing part of the upper arc of S could be a site for panoramic, introspective oversight. We request your forgiveness for us having knowingly played with names of different parts of the letters G and S; these hyperlinks to distant topics were chosen by our members to express their thoughts. There were many more interpretations; one saw affection - a baby bound secure on a working parent's back, a common practice in many cultures. Another was collaborative teamwork, where the infant was holding the parent's spectacles to direct the field of vision. The picture evoked many different emotions but at the end of the day, it was always the infant who was noticed first.

In the
first look, most of us art novices did not find the ocean waves in this painting too deep or worrisome. Some observers actually noticed a musical beauty in these oscillating ripples, the “ocean swells”. Even though there was no noticeable surf in the waters, the angled mushy waves still gave hope that the shore might not be too far. However, if these waves were to collide in the deeper, dark blue oceanic waters, there could be dangerous turbulence. The hydrodynamics of ocean waters can be tracked from ships and satellite systems. Analogous changes have been noted in larger healthcare interventions; temporal variations in outcomes have been seen at both individual and organizational levels. Global coordination to scale up healthcare programs can also provide important insights and reduce logistical costs; many worldwide campaigns focused on vaccination, nutrition, and education have achieved laudable success. Working together with integrated assessment and planning can help develop better models for healthcare delivery. The Millenium Development Goals in United Nations (UN) programs have become a useful template for measures to reduce perinatal mortality. The UN 2030 Agenda shows 17 Sustainable Development Goals; aim 3.2.2 is focused on reducing preventable newborn deaths

A word about emotions. In its composition, this logo shows three dimensions of participatory ethics focused on individuals, operations, and the larger organization. For us individuals, the red color of the boat underscored our affection for the baby; the unpremeditated deep alizarin crimson shade showed the intensity of these emotions. Second, just as public commitment can prevent marine corrosion on boats, family-centered care and similar facilitatory solutions can improve infant outcomes. And third, the small size of our boat emphasized that lean management can reduce wastage in healthcareThe importance of philanthropy was obvious in our slogan "Every Baby Counts". These words were located below the waterline of the boat and emphasized altruism, where every single effort does not need to be visible. The shadow behind the logo image hinted about the possibility of a supporting wall beneath it, and we will ensure with our adoption, commitment, and perseverance that there is one.

This logo, a work of art, was a gift from Dr. Rachana SinghMany readers have found it inspirational. Quoting from Shakespeare (12th Night, Act III, Scene 3; p109, line 15), we can no other answer make but thanks, and thanks, and ever thanks!

bottom of page