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WHAT WE FUND

Paediatric health and newborn care

Changing Policy and Practice

At a glance

Promoting 'Kangaroo Mother Care' in Uganda

Lead researcher

Dr Cally Tan

Institution

MRC/UVRI and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Uganda Research Unit

Status

Live

Amount awarded

£30,190.00

Last updated

16/04/24

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Dr Cally Tann from MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit is extending her research which explored the effects of Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) on the health of newborn babies in Uganda, especially pre-term babies.

Dr Cally Tann Dr Cally Tann

Preterm birth affects 13.4 million newborns globally each year.

Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) is a World Health Organisation-recommended package of care where the newborn is carried, usually by the mother, with skin-to-skin contact, and has been shown to increase survival amongst small, vulnerable newborns.

However, to enable safe roll out of this life-saving intervention, it is crucial to understand what changes to infrastructure and resources at healthcare facilities will be needed in different contexts.

The OMWaNA trial was a multi-centre randomised-controlled trial in Uganda, to assess the impact of early KMC on newborn outcomes and examine both the cost-benefit, and changes in infrastructure needed for successful implementation.

Dr Cally Tann's findings highlighted potential issues with implementation of KMC in Uganda. Significantly, many hospitals have little or no space for neonatal inpatient care, and governments across Africa are raising questions about affordability, required infrastructure, and resources needed.

With the Changing Policy and Practice funding, Tann's team plans to disseminate their findings to support national usage of KMC care in Uganda. They will provide evidence-based cost estimates to support national scale-up of newborn care with KMC. They will also provide tools and resources for safe implementation in Ugandan government health facilities nationally.