Title: "Hondurain Experience with the Kangaroo Mother Method 1992 – 1998"

Dr. Eulogio Pineda

The "Kangaroo Mother" method was implemented in Honduras since August 1992, after a trip made one week in Bogotá at the mother Infant Institute of Santafé in a program paid by UNICEF.

This short but very helpful experience was enriched by being atend by the foundders of "Kangaroo Mother Program" Dr. Héctor Martínez Gómez and Dr. Edgar Rey Sanabria.

In Honduras this method was implemented. Simultaneosly in two different hospital in the capital. The school Hospital (S.H), wich is a general hospital with 20.000 newbonrs every year and in the Hondurean Social Security hospital wiyh some 7.000 newborns every year.

This could be done due to the concidence that one of the doctor work simutaneosly in both hospitals with the help of a breast feeding technique and nursery personal.

At the beigining a program Committe of "Kangaroo mother" in both hospital was created, due to a team work interdisciplinary with excelent results.

Up to know December 1998, there have being 1598 newborns incorporated to the program, with has the epidemiological of the mother and the newborn of less than 2000 grams.

During all this time, special training courses have been provided for medical and nursery staff inside the mentioned hospitals and others like La Paz and Santa Bárbara achieving the expansion of the programm in three Deparmets (stage).

The impact that this method has created in different aspects is widely Known, mainly:

  1. An increment in EXCLUSIVE MOTHER BREATH FEEDING (up to the six months of life) of 40% to the social Security and of 70% of the School Hospital.
  2. Disminish hospital day stance in 25% to the social Security and 50% to the school hospital.
  3. Institutional savings for more than a quarter million of dollars.
  4. A reducction in the ambulatory mortality rate from 7-4% (School Hospital)and from 6-1% ( Social Security).
  5. Helps the cordination between different institutions.
  6. Motivates the family solidary in the cares of the newborn.
  7. Helps family unity.
  8. Introduction of the method in the curruculum of medicine and nursing.
  9. National and International exonasion of the method.
  10. Extraordinary advances in perinatal atention.
  11. Wide area for investigation.

Dificulties in the implementation of Kangaroo Mother Method:

  1. At the beginingthe incorporation of this program generated resistance of medical and nursery personal by considering it as excesive work.
  2. Capacitation error
  1. Inadequate coordination between UNICEF and the Public Health Ministry.
  2. Due to the developing of the Kangaroo Mother method in an operative level, we do not have still a compromise from health authorities.
  3. The new govermment doesn’t give continuation to the policies took by the previous health authorities.
  4. Shortage of an own economical budget.
  5. UNICEF has included the Kangaroo method as part of the breast feeding program.
  6. There is not enough human resourses mainly nurses.
  7. Overload of managment funtion for the coodinator.