WHO is making available a Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) scale-up toolkit. These tools were used during a
WHO-coordinated KMC implementation research study where three sites in India and four in Ethiopia were able to implement and scale-up KMC with high population coverage. KMC initiation reached 68%-86% of infants in Ethiopian sites and 87% in Indian sites. At discharge, KMC was provided to 68% of infants in Ethiopia and 55% in India.
KMC, the practice of early, continuous and prolonged skin-to-skin contact between the mother and the baby with exclusive breastfeeding, has been shown to be an effective and low-cost intervention in improving survival and health outcomes of small and sick babies. It has been demonstrated to promote physiologic stability, a thermally supportive environment, reduce risk of serious infections and reduce the mortality among hospitalised, stable preterm and low birth weight (LBW) babies.
However, KMC coverage across populations has remained low for decades and implementation scale-up elusive. Just a small percentage of small and sick babies that could benefit from KMC receive it.
Through health worker trainings, conducive policies and improved infrastructure, WHO aimed to ensure KMC was provided to at least 80% of low-birth-weight babies in health facilities. After the first year of the programme, coverage had increased from nearly 0% to more than 40%.
A set of resources and tested instruments, developed as part of the implementation research study, have been assembled into an easy-to-use toolkit.
The toolkit will be useful for implementors and policy makers looking to scale-up KMC in their districts and countries.
Additionally, the resources and instruments included in this toolkit can be used to support other programmes in the development of KMC delivery models, implementation, programme learning, and monitoring and evaluation.
The research study, conducted by WHO’s Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent health, was part of WHO’s programme to provide better guidance to countries in caring for their small and sick newborns, and to support countries in its implementation.