[Note from HIFA coordinator (NPW): For global child health and rights please join our sister forum CHIFA: www.chifa.org ]
15 May is Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC day) and I wanted to let people know of a new training resource of 14 highly produced films which can be used both for training and advocacy for the use of KMC in Neonatal Intensive Care Units with very preterm and low birth weight babies. The films were developed by Picturing Health (www.picturinghealth.org) with the American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) and also had input from WHO.
Evidence for the many benefits of starting Kangaroo Care or Kangaroo Mother Care from birth in NICUs has been mounting in recent years to the point that it is now recommended by WHO for all settings with almost all preterm babies. But despite this, the practice in NICUs with small babies is often limited. This is true both in high income countries as well as low and middle income settings where the practice was first developed. The reasons for this are many, with high income countries sometimes preferring all the technology developed around incubators, and low and middle income countries often citing problems of space and training.
The films form part of a course which has three aims. The first is to lay out the evidence for the benefits of KMC, both in terms of infection prevention, temperature control, promoting earlier breastfeeding and the neurological benefits of keeping babies in skin to skin and not separating them from their parents, so people understand why the guideline changes have been made. The films tell the story of some of the research - including the WHO run iKMC trial which found a 25% reduction in mortality from immediate KMC in NICUs; and follow up after 20 years of a large randomised Controlled Trial in Colombia. This follow-up forms part of a growing body of evidence suggesting long term developmental benefits from KMC. The second aim is to show in practical terms how to put very preterm babies in skin to skin contact. This is actually more complex than might at first appear - and from our filming in multiple sites we saw some common mistakes made in the way very small preterm are handled. The third aim is to show some examples of how iKMC has been successfully implemented in different settings to overcome some of the common barriers cited for implementation.
The 14 films are available to download and use from:
https://www.picturinghealth.org/ikmc-for-nicus/
They are also available on the AAP website and as a full course with the World Continuing Education Alliance (WCEA). This can be accessed from:
https://www.aap.org/en/aap-global/immediate-kangaroo-mother-care-ikmc/
The film titles are:
1. Introduction to KMC.
2. History of separation and KMC.
3. The iKMC Study (looking at the WHO run RCT).
4. Temperature Control.
5. KMC and Infection Prevention.
6. The Neurological benefits of KMC.
7. Introduction to an M-NICU.
8. 10 years of Kangaroo Care at Mbale Hospital (which showcases what is possible even when resources are very limited).
9. The Kangaroo Care Position and tying the baby.
10. Teaching parents and further methods of tying in KMC.
11. Immediate KMC and transfer to the NICU.
12. Feeding the baby.
13. Family Centred care in the NICU.
14. Going Home.
For other neonatal films, we have also produced 91 short films for a series of clinical courses now online through WCEA on using the common technology found in Neonatal units in Africa. These are published through the NEST 360 project. And we are currently working a series of more than 150 short films on how to repair many of these devices from oxygen concentrators to CPAP, phototherapy devices and radiant warmers. These will be available later this year. To find out when, you can sign up for our newsletters at:
https://picturinghealth.us18.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=23e92d10e401e97...
HIFA profile: Tom Gibb runs Picturing Health, a UK registered charity making films to disseminate health research, train health workers, inform patients and provoke debate in communities. Former BBC correspondent and film maker. tomgibb10 AT gmail.com