Southern Philippines Medical Center Staff Trained on KMC

The first on-site training course on Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) Program was conducted at the Sourthern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) in Davao City after a Memorandum of Agreement has been finalized between SPMC (represented by its Medical Center Chief Dr. Leopoldo Vega) and Bless Tetada KMC Foundation Phil., Inc (represented by its President Dr. Socorro dL. Mendoza). The KMC training was conducted for 5 days from May 2-6, 2011 at the SPMC premises for 7 key medical and paramedical professionals composed of 3 pediatric resident doctors, 2 nurses and 2 social workers as participants..These trainees shall comprise the SPMC core team responsible for implementing the KMC Program in the hospital.

The core team members are: Drs. Leo Paolo Lebiano, Claire Garcia-Cania, Mardigrace B. Puracan, Nurses Fedelita O. Puray & Ma. Wenchelle M. Velasco, and Social Workers Evelyn Arandia & Merle E. Quebral. The training was led by Dr. Socorro Mendoza, who touched on the technical aspects of the KMC Program. She was assisted by 2 KMC foundation(KMCF) staff, namely, Merle Pimentel who facilitated the training process and lectured on values enhancement, and Annie Guerrero who tackled documentation, evaluation, and recording of KMC data.

The 5 day KMC training started with an opening remark from Dr. Michael Manalaysay, Chair of the Department of Pediatrics, who expressed support for the KMC Program and hopes of implementing it not only in the hospital but eventually in other primary and secondary hospitals in Southern Mindanao. In response, Dr. Mendoza expressed the Foundation’s commitment to support the core team in the development and implementation of the KMC program. The training started with the presentation of the training agenda, and discussing the participants’ and the Foundation’s expectations. This was followed by a brief history of the Kanagaroo Mother Care both internationally and in the Philippines.

The technical aspects of the training consisted of lectures and on-site workshop applications of learning in both the in-patient and the out-patient phases of the Kangaroo Mother Care program. The workshops afforded the participant insights on the implementation of KMC program in the hospital with the 2 target clients in mind – the NICU medical doctors and nurses, and the mothers with preterm or low birth weight infants. Concerns and questions on the implementation of KMC in the hospital were discussed and answered at the end of each workshop. Those that could not be resolved during the 5 day training were writen or ‘parked’ on Manila papers posted on the walls of the training room for action by the core team at a later date.

The values enahncement sessions, identified as essential for the KMC core team to function as a cohisive unit, touched on values of healthcare givers such as positivity, compassion, cooperation, valuing the self and peace of mind. These values shall be invaluable in helping the KMC core team navigate stressfull situations as they implement the KMC program.

Lectures on the need for monitoring and documenting status of mother and infant enrolled in the KMC program were given. Standard KMC forms such as the in-patient and out-patient charts, evaluation forms, patient profile and commitment were discussed. Data collected shall be part of the Philippine data bank as well as the international data bank of Kangaroo Mother Care. The need for consistent recording to maintain integrity of data collected was emphasized.

A day was devoted to training the KMC core team on how to teach the Kangaroo Mother Care intervention to NICU hospital staff. The team also learned how to teach mothers the proper application of the KMC while at the hospital and most especially at home. Pointers on evaluating the results of the training sessions were also given to enable the core team to assess their success.

The output of the 5 day training program was a KMC implemenation plan drawn by the core team. The plan shall be presented to the pediatric head and hospital director for approval. This plan, once approved shall also be the basis for monitoring achievements by the core team during the quarterly visits of the KMCF officers.

At the end of the 5 day training, the KMCF officers met with Dr. Vega, SPMC hospital director and the pediatric service heads who were given a preview of the KMC program and the training given to the SPMC core team. The MOA establishing the Kangaroo Mother Care program in SPMC was signed, witnessed by the core team members and some medical and administrative heads of the hospital . The sponsorship of Johnson & Johnson in the development of SPMC as center for KMC in the region was acknowledged during the ceremonies. The training ended wth the awarding of certificates of training to the 7 core team members.

The core team elected Ms. Fedelita Puray, NICU head nurse as team head and Ms. Merle Quebral as secretary. They scheduled the following Saturday to echo the KMC training to identified staff members who will be involved in the program. The core team shall provide a copy of their implementation plan to the KMC Foundation upon its approval at the end of May. The Foundation looks forward to a productive partnership with SPMC in their common goal of improving the the health of low birth weight infants in Southern Mindanao.