Dr. Nils Bergman, MB ChB, MPH, MD

Biography:

Dr. Nils Bergman is a consulting Public Health Physician, with specific expertise and interest in maternal and neonatal health care. His qualifications include: MB ChB 1980 University of Cape Town South Africa, equivalent to MD in the USA; Diploma in Child Health in Developing Countries 1987, Uppsala Sweden; Masters in Public Health (cum laude), 1999 University of Western Cape, South Africa; Doctor of Medicine in Clinical Pharmacology, 1997 University of Zimbabwe, equivalent to PhD in the USA.

Dr. Bergman has worked in Zimbabwe (LIC), South Africa (MIC) and Sweden (HIC), hence he is able to bring a global perspective to his research. He contributed to initiating the Immediate KMC Study, and was a Principal Investigator in the WHO Study group that conducted this RCT and recently published results. He has developed and published an underlying scientific rationale that explains the very unexpected findings of profoundly lowered mortality from immediate and continuous skin-to-skin contact to very low birth weight newborns, summarized as "nurturescience".

Abstract: The Power and Impact of Nurturescience and Immediate Skin-to-Skin Contact

Nurturescience is derived out of developmental neuroscience, and the key aspects that constitute nurture will be presented, followed by the adverse consequences of maternal-infant separation. The key deliverable is that Nurturescience expressed as Zero Separation optimizes the development of resilience, which is fundamental for health and better outcomes. In contrast, parental absence is the essence of “toxic stress”, and the currently understood mechanisms for maladaptation will be described. To highlight the novelty of nurturescience to current neuroscience, a direct comparison will be provided.

Nurturescience is the underlying theoretical and scientific rationale for the Immediate Parent-Infant Skin-TO-Skin Study (IPISTOSS) conducted in high income countries, and the Immediate Kangaroo Mother Care Study (iKMC), conducted in middle and low income countries: both will be described. IPISTOSS provides direct clinical evidence of mechanisms, and iKMC study lowered mortality by 25%, with decreased sepsis as primary secondary outcome. The results are profoundly challenging to the current paradigm of health care, and a way forward will be suggested.