Briefing Paper

Performance of High Impact Interventions for Neonatal Care, and Applicability to Kenya

Clear and consistent communication between HCWs and health facility leadership is an important enabler of successful implementation of high impact interventions. The implementation of kangaroo mother care in both low and high-income countries is extremely low and requires scaling up. Breast milk and the early initiation of breastfeeding are determinant factors of neonatal mortality. Infants who are exclusively breastfed for six months experience less gastro-intestinal morbidity, less respiratory morbidity, and less infection-related neonatal mortality than partially breastfed neonates. According to expert opinion, clean birth and particularly postnatal care practices are effective in reducing neonatal mortality from sepsis and tetanus.