The three waves in implementation of facility-based kangaroo mother care : a multi-country case study from Asia

BACKGROUND : Kangaroo mother care has been highlighted as an effective intervention package to address high neonatal mortality pertaining to preterm births and low birth weight. However, KMC uptake and service coverage have not progressed well in many countries. The aim of this case study was to understand the institutionalisation processes of facility-based KMC services in three Asian countries (India, Indonesia and the Philippines) and the reasons for the slow uptake of KMC in these countries. METHODS : Three main data sources were available: background documents providing insight in the state of implementation of KMC in the three countries; visits to a selection of health facilities to gauge their progress with KMC implementation; and data from interviews and meetings with key stakeholders. RESULTS : The establishment of KMC services at individual facilities began many years before official prioritisation for scale-up. Three major themes were identified: pioneers of facility-based KMC; patterns of KMC knowledge and skills dissemination; and uptake and expansion of KMC services in relation to global trends and national policies. Pioneers of facility-based KMC were introduced to the concept in the 1990s and established the practice in a few individual tertiary or teaching hospitals, without further spread. A training method beneficial to the initial establishment of KMC services in a country was to send institutional health-professional teams to learn abroad, notably in Colombia. Further in-country cascading took place afterwards and still later on KMC was integrated into newborn and obstetric care programs. The patchy uptake and expansion of KMC services took place in three phases aligned with global trends of the time: the pioneer phase with individual champions while the global focus was on child survival (1998–2006); the newborn-care phase (2007–2012); and lastly the current phase where small babies are also included in action plans. CONCLUSIONS : This paper illustrates the complexities of implementing a new healthcare intervention. Although preterm care is currently in the limelight, clear and concerted country-led KMC scale-up strategies with associated operational plans and budgets are essential for successful scale-up.This study was made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), under the terms of the Leader with Associates Cooperative Agreement GHS-A-00-08-00002-00 and Cooperative Agreement AID-OAA-A- 14-0028 and Save the Children’s Saving Newborn Lives program. The World Health Organization Western Pacific Region (WHO-WPRO) contributed to the funding of the Philippines study (Project Reference: 2013/354438-1).http://bmcinthealthhumrights.biomedcentral.com/am2016Paediatrics and Child Healt

Consensus-based approach to develop a measurement framework and identify a core set of indicators to track implementation and progress towards effective coverage of facility-based Kangaroo Mother Care.

BACKGROUND: As efforts to scale up the delivery of Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) in facilities are increasing, a standardized approach to measure implementation and progress towards effective coverage is needed. Here, we describe a consensus-based approach to develop a measurement framework and identify a core set of indicators for monitoring facility-based KMC that would be feasible to measure within existing systems. METHODS: The KMC measurement framework and core list of indicators were developed through: 1) scoping exercise to identify potential indicators through literature review and requests from researchers and program implementers; and 2) face-to-face consultations with KMC and measurement experts working at country and global levels to review candidate indicators and finalize selection and definitions. RESULTS: The KMC measurement framework includes two main components: 1) service readiness, based on the WHO building blocks framework; and 2) service delivery action sequence covering identification, service initiation, continuation to discharge, and follow-up to graduation. Consensus was reached on 10 core indicators for KMC, which were organized according to the measurement framework. We identified 4 service readiness indicators, capturing national level policy for KMC, availability of KMC indicators in HMIS, costed operational plans for KMC and availability of KMC services at health facilities with inpatient maternity services. Six indicators were defined for service delivery, including weighing of babies at birth, identification of those ≤2000 g, initiation of facility-based KMC, monitoring the quality of KMC, status of babies at discharge from the facility and levels of follow-up (according to country-specific protocol). CONCLUSIONS: These core KMC indicators, identified with input from a wide range of global and country-level KMC and measurement experts, can aid efforts to strengthen monitoring systems and facilitate global tracking of KMC implementation. As data collection systems advance, we encourage program managers and evaluators to document their experiences using this framework to measure progress and allow indicator refinement, with the overall aim of working towards sustainable, country-led data systems

Strategies discussed at the XIIth international conference on Kangaroo mother care for implementation on a countrywide scale.

AIM: Building strategies for the country-level dissemination of Kangaroo mother care (KMC) to reduce the mortality rate in preterm and low birth weight babies and improve quality of life. KMC is an evidence-based healthcare method for these infants. However, KMC implementation at the global level remains low. METHODS: The international network in Kangaroo mother brought 172 KMC professionals from 33 countries together for a 2-day workshop held in conjunction with the XIIth International KMC Conference in Bogota, Colombia, in November 2018. Participants worked in clusters to formulate strategies for country-level dissemination and scale-up according to seven pre-established objectives. RESULTS: The minimum set of indicators for KMC scale-up proposed by the internationally diverse groups is presented. The strategies for KMC integration and implementation at the country level, as well as the approaches for convincing healthcare providers of the safety of KMC transportation, are also described. Finally, the main aspects concerning KMC follow-up and KMC for term infants are presented. CONCLUSION: In this collaborative meeting, participants from low-, middle- and high-income countries combined their knowledge and experience to identify the best strategies to implement KMC at a countrywide scale

A Meta-analysis on the Effect of Kangaroo Mother Care on Preterm Mortality

Background. Kangaroo mother care (KMC) is a low-cost but high-impact intervention for preterm and low birth weight (LBW) infants. Objectives. To determine the effect of KMC on in-hospital mortality among preterm and LBW infants, taking into consideration their gestational age, birth weight, income category of the country of birth, and medical stability. Materials and Methods. A comprehensive search of several databases, as well as local listings of research papers, was performed to look for randomized controlled studies with KMC as intervention, and mortality and length of hospitalization as outcome measures. The risk of bias and publication bias was assessed. We did subgroup analyses based on income category of the country of birth, gestational age, birth weight, and medical stability of the infants. Results. Sixteen randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with 1738 infants in the KMC group and 1674 infants in the control group were included. Based on the GRADE approach, although all the studies were RCTs, the evidence is assessed as moderate certainty due to the nature of the intervention (KMC) that prevented blinding. There was a 41% reduction in risk of dying among preterm and low birth weight infants who received KMC compared to conventional medical care (3.86%% vs 6.87%; RR = 0.59, 95% CI 0.44, 0.79; I2 = 0%; number needed to treat for additional benefit (NNTB) = 34; 16 RCTs; 3,412 infants). Furthermore, there were also reductions in the risk of dying among infants who were (KMC: 4.32% vs CMC: 8.17%, RR = 0.55, 95% CI 0.38, 0.79; I2 = 0%; NNTB = 26; 10 RCTs; 1795 infants), with birthweight of \u3e1500 g (KMC: 3.97% vs CMC: 6.83%, RR = 0.60; 95% CI 0.45, 0.82; I2 = 0%; NNTB = 35; 10 RCTs; 2960 infants), and born in low- and middle income countries (LMIC) (3.77% vs 6.95%; RR = 0.57, 95% CI 0.43, 0.77; I2 = 0%; NNTB = 32; 14 RCTs; 3281 infants). There was a significant reduction in mortality (KMC: 11.05% vs CMC: 20.94%; RR = 0.54; 95% CI 0.34, 0.87; I2 = 0%; NNTB = 11; 5 RCTs; 387 infants) even among medically unstable infants who received KMC compared to those who did not. The length of hospitalization did not significantly differ between the KMC and the control groups. Due to high heterogeneity, subgroup analyses were performed, which showed a trend towards a shorter length of hospital stay among preterm infants AOG, with birthweight ≥1500 g, medically unstable during admission, and belonging to LMIC but did not reach statistical significance. Conclusion. There was moderate certainty evidence that KMC can decrease mortality among preterm and LBW infants. Furthermore, KMC was beneficial among relatively more premature, bigger, medically unstable preterm infants and born in low to middle-income countries

Compliance with the "Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative for Neonatal Wards" in 36 countries

In 2012, the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative for Neonatal Wards (Neo-BFHI) began providing recommendations to improve breastfeeding support for preterm and ill infants. This cross-sectional survey aimed to measure compliance on a global level with the Neo-BFHI's expanded Ten steps to Successful Breastfeeding and three Guiding Principles in neonatal wards. In 2017 the Neo-BFHI Self-Assessment questionnaire was used in 15 languages to collect data from neonatal wards of all levels of care. Answers were summarized into compliance scores ranging from 0 to 100 at the ward, country and international levels. A total of 917 neonatal wards from 36 low, middle and high-income countries from all continents participated. The median international overall score was 77, and median country overall scores ranged from 52 to 91. Guiding Principle 1 (respect for mothers), Step 5 (breastfeeding initiation and support), and Step 6 (human milk use) had the highest scores, 100, 88, and 88, respectively. Steps 3 (antenatal information) and 7 (rooming-in) had the lowest scores, 63 and 67, respectively. High-income countries had significantly higher scores for Guiding principle 2 (family-centered care), Step 4 (skin-to-skin contact) and Step 5. Neonatal wards in hospitals ever-designated Baby-friendly had significantly higher scores than those never designated. Sixty percent of managers stated they would like to obtain Neo-BFHI designation. Currently, Neo-BFHI recommendations are partly implemented in many countries. The high number of participating wards indicates international readiness to expand Baby-friendly standards to neonatal settings. Hospitals and governments should increase their efforts to better support breastfeeding in neonatal wards

Research priorities for care of preterm or low birth weight infants: health policy

Research priorities for preterm or low birth weight (LBW) infants were advanced in 2012, and other research priority-setting exercises since then have included more limited, context-specific research priorities pertaining to preterm infants. While developing new World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for care of preterm or LBW infants, we conducted a complementary research prioritisation exercise. A diverse, globally representative guideline development group (GDG) of experts – all authors of this paper along with WHO steering group for preterm-LBW guidelines – was assembled by the WHO to examine evidence and consider a variety of factors in intervention effectiveness and implementation, leading to 25 new recommendations and one good practice statement for care of preterm or LBW infants. The GDG generated research questions (RQs) based on contributions to improvements in care and outcomes of preterm or LBW infants, public health impacts, answerability, knowledge gaps, feasibility of implementation, and promotion of equity, and then ranked the RQs based on their likelihood to further change or influence the WHO guidelines for the care of preterm or LBW infants in the future. Thirty-six priority RQs were identified, 32 (89%) of which focused on aspects of intervention effectiveness, and the remaining four addressed implementation (“how”) questions. Of the top 12 RQs, seven focused on further advancing new recommendations – such as family involvement and support in caring for preterm or LBW infants, emollient therapy, probiotics, immediate KMC for critically ill newborns, and home visits for post-discharge follow-up of preterm or LBW infants – and three RQs addressed issues of feeding (breastmilk promotion, milk banks, individualized feeding). RQs prioritised here will be critical for optimising the effectiveness and delivery of new WHO recommendations for care of preterm or LBW infants. The RQs encompass unanswered research priorities for preterm or LBW infants from prior prioritisation exercises which were conducted using Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) methodology. Funding: Nil

New World Health Organization recommendations for care of preterm or low birth weight infants: health policy

Approximately 11% of infants are born preterm, and complications of prematurity are the most common cause of death in children aged under five years. Almost one million preterm infants die each year across low, high and middle income countries. In 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) convened a Guideline Development Group (GDG) to examine evidence and formulate recommendations for care of preterm or low birthweight (LBW) infants according to WHO Guideline Review Committee (GRC) criteria. GRADE methods were used to assess the certainty of evidence and the GDG developed judgements using the DECIDE (Developing and Evaluating Communication strategies to support Informed Decisions and practice based on Evidence) framework. Twenty-five recommendations were made; 11 recommendations were new, and 16 were for preventive and promotive care. Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) was recommended to start immmediately after birth as routine care for all preterm or LBW newborns (except for critically ill infants who are in shock, unable to breath spontaneously after resuscitation, or require ventilatory support) both in the facility and at home. New recommendations were also made for caffeine to treat apnoea and for extubation; family involvement in routine care for preterm or LBW infants; and for post-discharge home-visit follow-up care. New recommendations were also made to consider use of probiotics, emollient therapy, caffeine for prevention of apnoea, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) immediately after birth (with or without respiratory distress) in infants less than 32 weeks gestational age; and for family support to enable the care of preterm or LBW infants. The recommendations confirm the pivotal role of preventive and promotive care for preterm and LBW infants, especially the importance of keeping the baby and mother together, and empowering and supporting families to care for their preterm or LBW infant. WHO is now working to help scale up care for small and sick newborns, including organizational shifts in all ‘health system building blocks’ such as infrastructure, commodities, workforce and monitoring. Funding: Nil

Sensitivity of South American tropical forests to an extreme climate anomaly

NERC Knowledge Exchange Fellowship (NE/V018760/1) to E.N.H.C.The tropical forest carbon sink is known to be drought sensitive, but it is unclear which forests are the most vulnerable to extreme events. Forests with hotter and drier baseline conditions may be protected by prior adaptation, or more vulnerable because they operate closer to physiological limits. Here we report that forests in drier South American climates experienced the greatest impacts of the 2015–2016 El Niño, indicating greater vulnerability to extreme temperatures and drought. The long-term, ground-measured tree-by-tree responses of 123 forest plots across tropical South America show that the biomass carbon sink ceased during the event with carbon balance becoming indistinguishable from zero (−0.02 ± 0.37 Mg C ha−1 per year). However, intact tropical South American forests overall were no more sensitive to the extreme 2015–2016 El Niño than to previous less intense events, remaining a key defence against climate change as long as they are protected.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe