In 2018, WHO and partners launched the Nurturing Care Framework for Early Childhood Development. The framework draws on state-of-the-art evidence regarding early childhood development to guide the design of policies and services to ensure that parents and caregivers are providing nurturing care for babies. Within this framework (which pertains to all newborns, infants and children from zero to three years) Every Preemie and partners identified a need for specific guidance for small and sick newborns.
Led by WHO, a group of global partners (including UNICEF, USAID, Every Preemie—SCALE and the USAID-funded Maternal and Child Survival Program [MCSP]) convened to develop an evidence synthesis report. This report summarizes the evidence and best practices on nurturing care approaches for small and sick newborns focusing on core elements of developmentally supportive care, which is disease-independent but vital to promoting healthy growth and well-being.
The document is arranged in three sections:
- Evidence Synthesis: An updated evidence review of the core elements of developmentally supportive, family-centered, and nurturing care from existing evidence synthesis documents, peer-reviewed journals, as well as grey literature;
- Country Case Studies: Implementation experience from seven selected countries representing high-, middle- and low-income settings collected through interviews with key informants;
- Gap analysis: A gap analysis based on evidence review and implementation experience to inform future research.
This report is closely aligned with the simultaneous development of standards of care by WHO, and provides insights for global and national stakeholders on the current status, and what is needed to enable and improve the inpatient environment for nurturing care of small and sick newborns.