Enhancing the Survival of Low Birth Weight Infants in Low-Resource Settings

Kangaroo Care, which includes skin-to-skin contact, exclusive breastfeeding, and timely follow-up, is a proven method to reduce neonatal morbidity and mortality in low-resource settings where the risks of prematurity, neonatal hypothermia, and neonatal mortality are high. However, numerous challenges such as inadequate knowledge, financial constraints, cultural norms, stigma, and limited social support impede its effective practice among mothers of low birthweight infants. To address these barriers, the intervention consists of informational, emotional and motivational support from trained peers and a box with warmth-related items to support the adoption and sustainment of Kangaroo Care at home. The investigators will enroll 328 mothers of low birthweight infants, who intend to initiate Kangaroo Care at two tertiary hospitals in Ghana, in a prospective randomized controlled trial. The trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention in increasing exclusive breastfeeding rates and the duration of skin-to-skin contact at 7 and 28 days post-hospital discharge. Mothers in the control group will receive the standard of care, which consists of one counseling session on Kangaroo Care before discharge and a follow-up phone call after discharge. In addition to the standard of care, mothers in the intervention group will receive five one-on-one peer support sessions over one month, along with a box containing a hat, socks, a specialized wrap to support skin-to-skin contact, soap for hand hygiene, and a temperature monitoring device that alerts mothers if their infant becomes hypothermic. Using surveys, outcome data will be collected from both study groups at enrollment in the hospital, and at 7 and 28 days after discharge at participants' homes. Additionally, in-depth interviews will be conducted with 10-15 mothers from the intervention group, 10-15 healthcare workers, and all six peer supporters delivering the intervention. These interviews will explore the implementation of the intervention and contextualize barriers and facilitators from the perspectives of different stakeholders.

Globally, about 20 million infants are born with low birthweight (LBW), and these infants face a myriad of health challenges, including difficulties in regulating body temperature, poor nutritional status, increased vulnerability to infections, and delayed development, placing emotional and financial burdens on families. Kangaroo Care (KC), consisting of continuous skin-to-skin contact, exclusive breastfeeding, and early discharge, is an evidence-based intervention recommended for LBW newborns to improve their survival and healthy development, especially in low-resource settings where the risks of prematurity, neonatal hypothermia, and neonatal mortality are disproportionately high. Despite the effectiveness of KC, widespread scale-up has been slow due to barriers to implementation and adoption. Existing efforts have primarily focused on health systems and policy changes, neglecting the need to support mothers and families to continue practicing KC at home. Several sociocultural and economic factors, including lack of essential warmth-related items, cultural norms, stigma, and limited social support, hinder the KC continuation at home. To address these challenges, an intervention grounded in the Information, Motivation, and Behavior (IMB) model has been developed. The intervention offers emotional, informational, and motivational peer support to mothers of LBW infants and a kit containing low-cost, locally sourced neonatal care items to facilitate skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding. A type II hybrid effectiveness-implementation study will be conducted. First, the effectiveness of the intervention will be tested using an individual randomized controlled trial, enrolling 328 mother-infant dyads eligible for KC from two tertiary hospitals in Ghana (Aim 1). It is hypothesized that mothers receiving the intervention will be more likely to continue KC at home 7 days after discharge compared to those in the control group receiving the standard of care. The primary effectiveness outcome is any duration of skin-to-skin contact and exclusive breastfeeding at 7 and 28 days post-discharge. Second, the implementation process including associated barriers and facilitators to implementation will be explored using mixed methods (Aim 2). In-depth interviews will be conducted with participants, peer supporters and healthcare workers. Thematic analysis of the interviews will be guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) framework and combine both inductive and deductive approaches. Findings from this research will inform the development of effective models for KC implementation and scale-up.