Saving Preterm Babies With an Idea From Nature

A program in Senegal teaches mothers about the kangaroo method of skin-to-skin contact. Transcript of radio broadcast: 22 May 2009

This is the VOA Special English Development Report. Some mothers in Senegal are learning a ne a! to save the lives of babies born too soon. The idea is not reall! ne . "t borro s from the a! mother

Two mothers in Malawi using kangaroo mother care

kangaroos carr! their !oung in front in a pouch. The #oe! -- hat Australians call a bab! kangaroo -- sta!s in this built-in bab! carrier until it can survive independentl!. $angaroo mother care is also kno n as the skin-to-skin method for premature babies. The direct contact ith the mother keeps the bab! arm. "t also lets the bab! breastfeed at an! time. A movement to spread the use of the kangaroo method for preterm babies gre out of %ogota& 'olombia& in the nineteen seventies. (o & a doctor in Senegal ho speciali)es in ne born care is leading a program financed b! the *inistr! of +ealth and ,("'E-. Ever! !ear& seven thousand babies are born at the health center here Ousmane (dia!e orks in .uedia a!& outside Dakar. One in five is under eight. %ut Senegal has fe incubators in hich to keep premature babies arm. "n est and central Africa& one ne born in t ent! dies. A ma#or reason is prematurit! -- the death rates are among the highest in the orld. Doctor (dia!e sa!s babies ho eigh less than t o kilos get special attention from mid ives ho assist ith the births. The! teach the mother ho to keep the bab! rapped to her chest. The health center has a $angaroo 'linic& a special area for teaching this method. The mother/s bod! heat is not the onl! thing that helps the bab!. +er heartbeat helps control the bab!/s breathing rate. Doctor (dia!e sa!s there are plans to e0pand the program throughout Senegal. %ut he believes the best a! to get more people to use the kangaroo method is for mothers like $oumba .ue!e to tell others about it. $oumba .ue!e recentl! had her third child& a bo!. +e arrived si0 eeks earl!. At first& she did not like carr!ing him in front. 1eople looked at her strangel!. She as not carr!ing him on her back& the traditional a!. %ut after a fe eeks& she sa!s& the kangaroo method saved her bab!/s life. And unlike a machine& the skin-to-skin contact provides t o kinds of ph!sical and emotional. armth --

And that/s the VOA Special English Development Report& ritten b! 2eril!n 3atson ith reporting b! -id Thompson in Dakar. The 3orld +ealth Organi)ation has a guide to kangaroo mother care. -or a link& go to voaspecialenglish.com. "/m Steve Ember. -rom http455 .voane s.com5specialenglish5archive56778-7956778-79-66voa:.cfm 3ednesda!& August 6;& 6778 at 6649<