Photo of the Week: Learning KMC in Brazil

Photo: Genna Naccache/Save the Children

Elvira, 29, cradles her premature baby girl Alice after giving birth at the hospital in Petrolina, Brazil. Elvira was eight months pregnant when she got preeclamsia and gave birth to Alice, who weighted 1.360 kilograms. The nurse was instructing Elivra on how to perform Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC), skin-to-skin contact that keeps Alice warm and enables her growth. Alice began putting on weight and would soon be allowed to leave the hospital for home. 

KMC was developed in the 1970s by a Colombian physician, Edgar Ray, who sought a solution to incubator shortages, high infection rates and abandonment of preterm births. KMC is health-system friendly in that it helps to reduce hospital stay and nursing load and therefor gives cost savings. According to the Born Too Soon report, a systematic review and meta-analysis of several randomized control trials found that KMC is associated with a 51% reduction in neonatal mortality for stable babies weighting <2,000g if started in the first week, as compared to incubator care. These trials all considered facility-based care KMC practice where feeding support was available. 

• Born Too Soon report
• Healthy Newborn Network Brazil Country Page