By Rose Mestika, The Daily Monitor

ADDIS ABABA — Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC), care service training on treating a newborn premature baby, low birth weight baby, was offered to 13 Doctors and Nurses at Black lion Hospital in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa.

The five-day training in the Care Service, which is said to be the first of its kind were offered to those medical practitioners gathered from six selected hospitals, namely Adigrat, Dessie, Nekemet, Hiwot Fana, Yirgalem and Yekatit 12 Hospital.

Dr. Bogale Worku, Head of Pediatrics department at Black Lion Hospital said yesterday concluding the training; the aim of the training was to expand the KMC service into other hospitals.

“We offer for those medical practitioners a theoretical and practical training on KMC service. KMC is a special way of holding the baby with skin to skin contact between mother and baby, breast feeding and good bonding,”, he said adding that the benefits of this service are to improve the low birth weight baby temperature regulation or cardio-respirator stability and faster growth and development.

The same as the Kangaroo the mother of the baby or the family members hold the premature baby on their upper body for 24 hrs per day. The service will continue from one to eight weeks, the head further explained.

“There is no much attention for babies born too soon or too small. And Ethiopia is one of the highest low birth weight baby’s mortality in the world. This program was started around ten years and still the facility is not expanded and the risk is not minimized”, said Dr. Bogale.

He also said that before the hospital started this program assessments were done whether the doctors, mothers and policy makers accept it or not. The cost and the feasibility were also been studied.

The training was prepared by KMC with the support of Save the Children, USA and access program.

“In Ethiopia around 94% of births takes place at home and facility based delivery is low, therefore, rolling it to limited health facilities is not enough” Dr. Samuel Teshome, saving Newborns Live, Save the Children/US said at the training’s conclusion.

Currently, the KMC service is delivering in Black lion Hospital, Gonder and Jimma Hospitals