Abayanesu, 22, with her one-month-old newborn daughter in Black Lion Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Her still unnamed daughter was born a month premature. She weighed 800 grams so the nurses advised Abayanesu to practice mother kangaroo care which is a method consisting of skin-to-skin contact between mother and infant for 24 hours until the baby is 41 weeks old. Since Abayanesu started practising mother kangaroo care her daughter has gained 400 grams. Worldwide more than 20 million babies are born each year with low birth weight. This represents 15.5% of all births. Of these low birth weight babies, 95.6% are born in developing countries. Kangaroo mother care was originally conceived in Colombia in 1978 as an alternative to traditional methods of care for the low birth weight baby. The initiative behind this method of care was to address the problem of insufficient and expensive resources in neonatal care units. The method has been widely accepted in countries with scarce resource settings. Save the Children has supported the government of Ethiopia training doctors and nurses from 12 hospitals across the country on how to implement this method in order to improve the survival chances of low-birth weight babies.
The Family-Led Care model was developed by the Every Preemie—SCALE project to empower families to care for their preterm and low birthweight newborns while practicing Kangaroo Mother Care in the health facility and at home after discharge. The model was originally developed, implemented, and assessed in Balaka District, Malawi – more information on Malawi implementation is available here, and a short video on the model can be viewed here.
This global package standardizes content for Family-Led Care training, provides an easy-to-use format for trainers in Sub-Saharan Africa and other low-resource settings, and incorporates lessons learned from the implementation experience in Malawi. It has been updated for a global audience and can be adapted for use in local contexts. The full package is available at: https://www.everypreemie.org/family-led-care-global/.
The Family-Led Care Package includes the below components:
Materials for a 2 day training in Family-Led Care for providers:
- Family-Led Care Training: Trainers Resource Manual – includes session plans, pre and post-knowledge assessments, exercises, case studies, handouts, and final evaluation forms
- PowerPoint Presentation: Family-Led Care Training, Day 1
- PowerPoint Presentation: Family-Led Care Training, Day 2
Materials for families:
- Family-Led Care Guide: Counseling for Families of Small Babies – Pictorial counseling book with specific messages about care of preterm/low birth weight newborns
- Family monitoring form for use in the facility and at home
- Caring for Small Babies at Home – Pictorial discharge leaflet with danger signs and key messages
Materials for documentation of facility care:
- In-patient monitoring form: Provider Monitoring Form
- Feeding forms: 2 Hour Feeding Chart; 3 Hour Feeding Chart