International Kangaroo Mother Care Awareness Day 2020

Portrait of Fridah Gatwiri (mother) with Baby Adrian performing KMC at Pumwani Maternity Hospital. Save the Children is strengthening the skills and capacity of health providers in seven hospitals located in the Langata area of Nairobi, Kenya, so that they can deliver higher quality care to preterm and low-birth-weight babies. The project is targeting to reach 2,200 new born babie each year. Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) is the current recommended practice to care for stable preterm babies in Kenya. For babies, KMC promotes faster weight gain due to better thermoregulation and improved breastfeeding and therefore shorter hospital stay. KMC improves bonding between mother and baby and empowers mothers to play an active role in care for the newborn. KMC reduces dependency on incubators, does not require additional nursing staff and reduces cost per patient due to shorter hospital stays providing benefits for the health facility.

May 15th marks the International Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) Awareness Day, a global event celebrated since 2011 by health institutions, experts, communities and families to appreciate KMC efforts by parents, organizations, and professionals.

KMC refers to the practice of providing continuous skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby, exclusive breastmilk feeding, and early discharge from the hospital. KMC is an especially important intervention for babies that are born premature, small or sick.

To highlight the benefits of KMC, we encourage you to take a few moments to share your KMC stories with us by tagging @HealthyNewborns on Twitter and using #KMC or via email info@healthynewbornnetwork.org.