This Thematic Brief summarizes why nurturing care is essential for every newborn. It outlines the five components of nurturing care and contains examples of practical actions to create and strengthen nurturing environments for newborns, including those who are born too soon, small or sick.
The first month of life is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for children to begin the journey of unlocking their full potential. Policy-makers, health care managers, health care providers and parents can lead the transformation that is needed for every newborn to make the best start in life. In this Brief, six case studies illustrate what can be done to create a nurturing environment and enable caregivers to provide nurturing care for their newborns, starting in the health facility and continuing at home.
- Good health: Preventing and managing illness, including evidence based-high quality care for small and sick newborns
- Adequate nutrition: Optimizing exclusive breastfeeding or breast milk feeding, including for small and sick newborns
- Safety and security: Warmth, good hygiene, minimizing stress, and enabling the primary caregiver, most commonly the mother, to be with the infant in a quiet environment
- Early learning: Stimulating the baby’s brain through touch, voice, or contact
- Responsive caregiving: Being aware of the newborns’ signals, which may indicate readiness to feed, pain or stress, and responding to them appropriately.