Explanation:

•  In an attempt to improve neonatal care of underweight babies, the district women’s hospital here will soon set up a ‘Kangaroo Mother Care’ ward with six beds.
• According to World Health Organisation, ‘Kangaroo Mother Care’ is a safe method of caring for low birth weight infants in limited resources settings. Under this method, the infant’s body is brought in contact with the mother’s and both are then covered with a warm blanket for several hours. It involves early, continuous and prolonged skin-to-skin contact between a mother and her newborn, frequent and exclusive breastfeeding and early discharge from hospital. It is a safe and effective alternative to conventional neonatal care, especially when there is limited availability of resources. The method reduces mortality in low birth weight babies.
• The state government will provide six beds for opening KMC ward.Though there are facilities for neonatal care, KMC ward will help us improve the services provided. Out of nearly 20 deliveries which take place in a day in the district women’s hospital, two or three babies weigh less than 2.5 kg and need special care. It has been observed that if a mother is malnourished, anaemic or a hypertension patient, the newborn is likely to be under-weight.
• According to WHO estimates, more than 20 million infants are born every year with birth weight less than 2.5 kg. Over 96% of this is in developing countries. Such babies are at increased risk of early growth retardation, infectious diseases and death during infancy