title: Helping small babies survive: an evaluation of facility-based Kangaroo Mother Care implementation progress in Uganda.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Prematurity is the leading cause of newborn death in Uganda, accounting for 38% of the nation's 39,000 annual newborn deaths. Kangaroo mother care is a high-impact; cost-effective intervention that has been prioritized in policy in Uganda but implementation has been limited.
  
  
  METHODS
  A standardised, cross-sectional, mixed-method evaluation design was used, employing semi-structured key-informant interviews and observations in 11 health care facilities implementing kangaroo mother care in Uganda.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The facilities visited scored between 8.28 and 21.72 out of the possible 30 points with a median score of 14.71. Two of the 3 highest scoring hospitals were private, not-for-profit hospitals whereas the second highest scoring hospital was a central teaching hospital. Facilities with KMC services are not equally distributed throughout the country. Only 4 regions (Central 1, Central 2, East-Central and Southwest) plus the City of Kampala were identified as having facilities providing KMC services.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  KMC services are not instituted with consistent levels of quality and are often dependent on private partner support. With increasing attention globally and in country, Uganda is in a unique position to accelerate access to and quality of health services for small babies across the country.
authors: Saving Newborn Lives programme, Save the Children, Kampala, Uganda and Washington DC, USA.
authors: Patrick
authors: P
authors: Aliganyira
authors: Saving Newborn Lives programme, Save the Children, Kampala, Uganda and Washington DC, USA ; University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa.
authors: Kate
authors: K
authors: Kerber
authors: MRC Unit for Maternal and Infant Health Care Strategies, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
authors: Karen
authors: K
authors: Davy
authors: Saving Newborn Lives programme, Save the Children, Kampala, Uganda and Washington DC, USA.
authors: Nathalie
authors: N
authors: Gamache
authors: Saving Newborn Lives programme, Save the Children, Kampala, Uganda and Washington DC, USA.
authors: Namaala Hanifah
authors: NH
authors: Sengendo
authors: MRC Unit for Maternal and Infant Health Care Strategies, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
authors: Anne-Marie
authors: AM
authors: Bergh
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006761:Hospitals / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D060127:Kangaroo-Mother Care Method / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016730:Program Development; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D014454:Uganda
keywords: Delivery of health care; Kangaroo Mother Care; Uganda; implementation; infant premature; neonatal; newborn; preterm; program evaluation