Development and evaluation of a kangaroo mother care implementation model in South Ethiopia.

Aim: To develop a model for increasing the coverage of kangaroo mother care (KMC), which involved ≥8 h of skin-to-skin contact per day and exclusive breastfeeding, for small babies with birth weight < 2000 g in South Ethiopia.

Methods: A mixed methods study was conducted between June 2017 and January 2019 at four hospitals and their catchment areas. Iterative cycles of implementation, program learning and evaluation were used to optimise KMC implementation models.

Scaling up Kangaroo Mother Care in Ethiopia and India: a multi-site implementation research study.

Objectives: Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC), prolonged skin-to-skin care of the low birth weight baby with the mother plus exclusive breastfeeding reduces neonatal mortality. Global KMC coverage is low. This study was conducted to develop and evaluate context-adapted implementation models to achieve improved coverage.

Small and sick newborn care during the COVID-19 pandemic: global survey and thematic analysis of healthcare providers' voices and experiences.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting health systems globally. Maternity care disruptions have been surveyed, but not those related to vulnerable small newborns. We aimed to survey reported disruptions to small and sick newborn care worldwide and undertake thematic analysis of healthcare providers' experiences and proposed mitigation strategies.

Barriers for kangaroo mother care (KMC) acceptance, and practices in southern Ethiopia: a model for scaling up uptake and adherence using qualitative study.

Background: Globally, approximately 15 million babies are born preterm every year. Complications of prematurity are the leading cause of under-five mortality. There is overwhelming evidence from low, middle, and high-income countries supporting kangaroo mother care (KMC) as an effective strategy to prevent mortality in both preterm and low birth weight (LBW) babies.

Aetiology of acute febrile illness among children attending a tertiary hospital in southern Ethiopia.

Background: The diagnosis of non-malarial aetiologies, which now represent the majority of febrile illnesses, has remained problematic in settings with limited laboratory capacity. We aimed to describe common aetiologies of acute febrile illness among children in a setting where malaria transmission has declined.

Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted among children aged at least 2 months and under 13 years presenting with fever (temperature of ≥37.

Does a complex intervention targeting communities, health facilities and district health managers increase the utilisation of community-based child health services? A before and after study in intervention and comparison areas of Ethiopia.

Introduction: Ethiopia successfully reduced mortality in children below 5 years of age during the past few decades, but the utilisation of child health services was still low. Optimising the Health Extension Programme was a 2-year intervention in 26 districts, focusing on community engagement, capacity strengthening of primary care workers and reinforcement of district accountability of child health services. We report the intervention's effectiveness on care utilisation for common childhood illnesses.