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Every year 250,000 newborns in Nigeria don't survive their first month.
A simple, proven solution could save many of them, but few receive it.

We ensure no child misses out on a lifesaving first embrace.

The WHO recommends Kangaroo Care (KMC) for all underweight and premature newborns with the highest level of certainty. In Sub-saharan Africa only 5% of them receive it.
30 - 50%
Reduction in deaths
Compared to incubator care
Meta analysis of 21 RCTs across 20 years ¹
$3,136
to save a newborn life
Our current Year 1 trajectory¹.
In line with Givewell's KMC estimates² .
What is KMC?

OUR MODEL
We embed KMC in government hospitals
The Nigerian government is dedicated to 90% of newborns to receiving KMC by 2030.
We are the only NGO implementing KMC for newborns in large hospitals in Kano State.
STEP 01
Train and equip
We train and hire nurses while equipping wards only with what they need to deliver WHO standard KMC.
STEP 02
Deliver and track
Newborns receive skin to skin care with every session digitally tracked from admission to discharge, and are followed up for the first month.
STEP 03
Embed
We help government translate KMC policy recommendations into local budgets.
OUR IMPACT
What we've achieved so far
Pilot
Kano
since february 2026
We are over halfway through our pilot in one of Nigeria's highest burden hospitals for vulnerable newborns. We compare our program mortality to a baseline cohort we followed up prospectively at the our pilot hospital where a quarter of vulnerable newborns died.
256
Newborns cared for
87%
Received KMC
52%
mortality reduction
22
Newborns saved
counterfactually
Shared with the Kano State Ministry of Health.
75% of newborn deaths happen in the first week of life and we keep most of our newborns with us through it. We don't estimate, we observe.

partner

$200 protects a vulnerable newborn through the most critical week of their life, from birth to home.
Predictable funding reduces costs because we can buy equipment in larger quantities.
All donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by local law.

Donating takes less time than it took you to read this.
Choose your impact
$40
A day of KMC.
Protects a newborn for the first day of life, when half that will die, do.
$200
A week of KMC.
Protects one newborn through their first week, when 75% of deaths happen.
$1600
A week of KMC for an entire ward.
Including equipment, data collection, and training for all families on the ward.
$3000
A newborn life saved.
This is what it takes to save one newborn who would otherwise die.

WHY US?
Built for this challenge. Led by those closest to it.
We unite clinical experience with local system expertise.
Wesley Quadros
Co-founder
Medical doctor with neonatal experience and research to policy exposure in Africa.
Ikra Gulzar
Co-founder
Lead Pharmacist experienced in regional health policy approvals and clinical protocol development.
Prof. Zubaida Farouk
Head of Training
Professor of neonatology and consultant for over 20 years. Experience shaping Nigerian KMC guidelines and training clinicians.
Dr Musa Sufi
Government Lead
Health advocate to regional government across multiple states in Northern Nigeria.
ADVISED BY experts FROM
Give a newborn the first embrace they need
We believe in transparent sharing of our work to support collective impact in newborn health.
First Embrace is a Charity Entrepreneurship charity and fiscally sponsored project of Anti Entropy (EIN: 88-0967420), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. 2026.