The Kangaroo Mother Care Acceleration Partnership Community of Practice hosted a webinar that made the case for the importance of follow-up for KMC/preterm babies to go beyond survival and optimize quality of life, including what kind of screening and clinical and social services are offered/recommended and at what intervals. Dr. Mazia presented on “aspirational” models and suggestions for what realistically can be done in limited-resource settings. She also shared ideas for improving compliance with follow-up such as the use of mobile technology, or innovations like decentralizing basic services in combination with referrals for periodic specialized care.
Click here to view the webinar.
Dr. Goldy Mazia is a pediatrician with training in neonatology and a Master’s degree in public health, with over 25 years of clinical experience and 12 in international public health, with a focus in newborn issues. She is a Newborn Health Advisor for USAID’s Maternal and Child Survival Program (MCSP) based in Washington DC, working for PATH (Program for Appropriate Technologies in Health). Dr. Mazia was a founding member and for 3 years the coordinator of the LAC Neonatal Alliance, working to address the main causes of newborn mortality in the region for the past 10 years. She is also a recognized global expert in newborn health, and particularly in the implementation and measurement of KMC.
The KAP COP is a group of professionals committed to increasing coverage of effective KMC to reach 50% global coverage by 2020, as per the Every Newborn Action Plan. In addition to in-person meetings, the community of practice hosts this online community for further discussions, to share documents, create and access webinars, and more. If you would like to learn more about the KAP COP and how to join, visit the group’s page here.