According to an article I read, Kangaroo Mother Care (1st used in Colombia in 1978) is now being implemented in Nigeria to help premature newborn babies survive. Normally, incubators would be used for newborn care- but the finances and power supply are not steady enough to rely on. Now Nigerian mothers are learning to provide the warmth that their babies need with their own bodies, by using constant skin-to-skin contact with their babies in a vertical position. This method is expected to save a whopping 19,000 babies by 2015. Not only is Kangaroo Mother Care effective, it also increases breastfeeding rates- which can be critical to premature infant development. The only downfall to KMC is the demand it places on the mother. She would need to stay at the clinic 24 hours a day until the child grows. Fortunately, surrogates can be used when Mom needs to take a break.
This is a Nigerian mother practicing KMC, photo courtesy of impatientoptimists.org
I chose this article because we have been studying different African countries via exploration of the Gapminder application in class. This is an example of a change that can take place in a country and have a drastic effect on life expectancy. I was also interested in this article because KMC is empowering mothers in Nigeria, helping them to take matters into their own hands when money and power sources are unavailable- they don't need to rely on government or men to save their babies' lives.
You can read more about Kangaroo Mother Care on their website.
No comments:
Post a Comment