ArticleEClinicalMedicine2021
Impact of early kangaroo mother care versus standard care on survival of mild-moderately unstable neonates <2000 grams: A randomised controlled trial.
Article in EClinicalMedicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03555981 (A Randomised Controlled Trial of Early Continuous Kangaroo Mother Care Versus Standard Care on Survival of Hospitalised Unstable Neonates <2000g in The Gambia), which is not on this map. Cited by 23 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Randomised Controlled Trial of Early Continuous Kangaroo Mother Care Versus Standard Care on Survival of Hospitalised Unstable Neonates <2000g in The Gambia
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Postnatal interventions to support newborn survival: updates for the Lives Saved Tool.Journal of global health · 2026Pooled it
- Interventions to Prevent Post-Discharge Mortality among Children in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2026Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of Kangaroo mother care vs. conventional care during hospitalization for preterm and/or low birth weight infants: a meta-analysis with trial sequential analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Kangaroo mother care for preterm or low birth weight infants: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ global health · 2023Pooled it
- Effectiveness of kangaroo mother care before clinical stabilisation versus standard care among neonates at five hospitals in Uganda (OMWaNA): a parallel-group, individually randomised controlled trial and economic evaluation.Lancet (London, England) · 2024Trial
- Process and costs for readiness to safely implement immediate kangaroo mother care: a mixed methods evaluation from the OMWaNA trial at five hospitals in Uganda.BMC health services research · 2023Trial
- Health interventions and stakeholder roles in neonatal mortality reduction within low-income countries: A scoping review.Public health in practice (Oxford, England) · 2026Review
- Kangaroo Care as an intervention in randomised controlled trials in neonatal intensive care.Pediatric research · 2026Review
- Review
- Cross-paradigm fNIRS brain activity in 1-month-old infants across The Gambia and the United Kingdom.Neurophotonics · 2026Article
- Immediate kangaroo mother care: a narrative review of the benefits and barriers.World journal of pediatrics : WJP · 2026Review
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- Born Too Soon: Care for small and sick newborns, evidence for investment and implementation.Reproductive health · 2025Article
- Review
- Kangaroo mother care among hospitalised neonates: evaluation of the validity of duration measurement methods compared to observation linked to the OMWaNA trial in Uganda.BMC pediatrics · 2025Observational
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Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundUnderstanding the effect of early kangaroo mother care on survival of mild-moderately unstable neonates <2000 g is a high-priority evidence gap for small and sick newborn care.
methodsThis non-blinded pragmatic randomised clinical trial was conducted at the only teaching hospital in The Gambia. Eligibility criteria included weight <2000g and age 1-24 h with exclusion if stable or severely unstable. Neonates were randomly assigned to receive either standard care, including KMC once stable at >24 h after admission (control) versus KMC initiated <24 h after admission (intervention). Randomisation was stratified by weight with twins in the same arm. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality at 28 postnatal days, assessed by intention to treat analysis. Secondary outcomes included: time to death; hypothermia and stability at 24 h; breastfeeding at discharge; infections; weight gain at 28d and admission duration. The trial was prospectively registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03555981).
findingsRecruitment occurred from 23rd May 2018 to 19th March 2020. Among 1,107 neonates screened for participation 279 were randomly assigned, 139 (42% male [
interpretationThe trial had low power due to halving of baseline neonatal mortality, highlighting the importance of implementing existing small and sick newborn care interventions. Further mortality effect and safety data are needed from varying low and middle-income neonatal unit contexts before changing global guidelines.
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.