Overview
Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) is an intervention for low birthweight and preterm babies based on skin-to-skin contact and exclusive breastmilk feeding described by Drs. Ray and Martinez in Bogota, Colombia in 1979. While some countries have a strong tradition of KMC practice, it has not gotten wide uptake in many other parts of the world. Despite the benefits of KMC, there are many reasons for the suboptimal uptake, and one thing is clear: the WHO guidelines on KMC up until now had reserved the practice for stable babies. Yet, we know that almost half of newborn deaths occur in the first 24 hours—likely before many fragile babies achieve stability.
In keeping with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to reduce child mortality and newborn deaths, in May 2021, a trial was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, following a World Health Organization (WHO) iKMC study in 5 countries, showing a 25% mortality decrease in unstable babies who got access to immediate KMC just after birth. Among infants with a birth weight between 1.0 and 1.799 kg, those who received immediate kangaroo mother care had lower mortality at 28 days than those who received conventional care with kangaroo mother care initiated after stabilization.
The American Academy of Pediatrics dissemination and advocacy project developed following the WHO-led multisite study, is a two-year series of events and partnerships to disseminate new evidence on iKMC and build a network of policymakers and opinion leaders supporting a paradigm shift of zero separation for mothers and babies. The concept of Zero Separation for mothers and their preterm newborns after birth requires a rewiring of expectations and a reworking of policies, spaces, and approaches to providing care. Webinars which bring the evidence to life are the first step in shifting the paradigm. The target audience is healthcare professionals, professional organizational leaders, and policy makers. The webinars done in an interactive “news show” format will feature global experts in iKMC and small and sick newborn care, healthcare advocates and leaders and patient and family advocates and representatives.