Every year, on May 15, we celebrate International Kangaroo Care Awareness Day - dedicated to promoting and advocating for the practice of Kangaroo Care. “Kangaroo Care” is a method of nurturing newborns proven to have significant benefits for both infants and parents. 

In 2024, the Ifakara Health Institute proudly joined hands with Data for Impact (D4I) in recognizing the importance of this day and highlighting its significance in improving newborn health outcomes.

About Kangaroo Care 

Kangaroo care, named after the mammal's way of carrying its young, involves skin-to-skin contact between a newborn baby and their parent or caregiver. 

This practice has been widely recognized for its ability to regulate the baby's temperature, heart rate, and breathing, as well as promoting bonding and breastfeeding, which are crucial for the baby's growth and development.

EN-MINI tools, report

In commemoration of International Kangaroo Care Awareness Day, we turn our attention to the recently published "Every Newborn-Measurement Improvement for Newborn & Stillbirth Indicators (EN-MINI-PRISM) Tools for Routine Health Information Systems: Tanzania Pilot Study Report." 

This comprehensive report, assessed newborn and stillbirth data, shedding light on various aspects of newborn care, including the use of kangaroo care.

Furthermore, as part of the global effort to promote Kangaroo Care and improve newborn health outcomes, similar studies have been conducted in other countries, such as Bangladesh. 

The EN-MINI reports for Bangladesh and Tanzania offer comparative analyses of newborn data availability within routine health information systems, highlighting areas of improvement and best practices for implementing kangaroo care interventions.

Studying data to help doctors 

By studying data from regular health records, we can help doctors and policymakers improve how they care for newborns and encourage more hospitals to use kangaroo care.

On Kangaroo Care Awareness Day, we celebrate the strides made in advancing the safe implementation of skin-to-skin care and reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that every newborn receives the care and support they deserve.