Kangaroo care receives significant endorsement from a study published in the British Medical Journal, highlighting its effectiveness in reducing infection and mortality risks for small and preterm babies.
Study results: Reviewing 31 trials involving over 15,000 infants, the study found a reduction in childhood mortality by approximately a third among those who experienced kangaroo care starting within 24 hours of birth.
* The World Health Organization also advised “immediate skin to skin care for survival of small and preterm babies” in November.
History: Invented in 1978 in Colombia by physician researchers Edgar Rey Sanabria and Héctor Martínez-Gómez, the practice has slowly spread around the world.
* UNICEF has been instrumental in distributing information on kangaroo care worldwide.
Implementation in Ivory Coast: In 2019, UNICEF assisted in opening the first kangaroo care ward at the University Hospital Medical Center at Treichville in Abidjan.
* Ivory Coast’s infant mortality rate in 2019 was 59 deaths per 1,000 births, significantly higher than industrialized countries’ average of 4 deaths per 1,000 births.
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