Project Lead(s): Nathalie Charpak
This program will focus on promoting and sustaining the Kangaroo Program as an integral intervention for managing the premature condition. Part of the problem we are trying to solve relates to the adverse effects of prematurity on neurodevelopment and thereby on human development. The present study will compare brain functioning, integrity and intellectual performance, and social adjustment between young adults who were born prematurely; half of them received Kangaroo Mother Care and the other half received the usual care in incubators. They were randomly assigned to either intervention.
The original study was conducted between 1994–1996 by the Kangaroo Foundation team in Bogota, Colombia, and the results were published in peer reviewed journals. If the project succeeds, the basic, broader implications relate to public health policies, because the Kangaroo intervention has been designated as the best option to manage premature babies. The goals include a new health policy with multilevel health service within the community.
Impact and Results
- BBC World Service (Health Check): 9 minutes long, starts ~16 min mark (14/12/2016)
- The Guardian: 'Kangaroo care' makes premature babies healthier and wealthier, study finds (13/12/2016)
- Huffington Post: Incredible Study Shows Cuddling Preemies Helps Them For Decades (13/12/2016)
- CBC: ‘I had tears in my eyes holding her:’ Kangaroo care for preemies shows profound power of touch (12/12/2016)
- The National with Peter Mansbridge: Skin to skin contact shapes a lifetime (45:28 – 47:57) (12/12/2016)
- Reuters: Skin-to-skin ‘kangaroo’ baby care tied to better health years later (12/12/2016)