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Background: Skin-to-skin contact is often termed as “Kangaroo Care”. It is a method of holding a baby skin-to-skin or chest-to-chest with a parent, typically mothers. This nursing intervention helps in establishing a strong bond between a parent and a child, provides adjustment to extra-uterine life, and contributes to the holistic growth and development of the child. Moreover, Kangaroo Care is a key intervention to support the development and nurturing of preterm infants. The study aims to identify the perceptions of healthcare providers pertaining to predisposition factors and the perceived benefits of skin-to-skin contact in times of COVID-19.Methods: A cross-sectional study design was implemented in the study. The data collected from the participants attended the workshop on skin-to-skin from a wide range of health care settings (primary, secondary, and tertiary care hospitals) from Karachi, Pakistan.Results: A total of 126 health care providers participated of which 22.2% were male. Regarding predisposition factors, 112 participants agreed that skin contact enhances a mother’s love for the newborn, while 110 participants agreed that it helps the mother to take better care of the child. Additionally, 109 participants agreed that skin contact establishes an emotional bond between parents and the newborn.Conclusions: Skin-to-skin contact is one of the best and safest practices for the baby and the mother. It reduces mortality, severe illness, infection, and length of hospital stay. The evidence-based research suggests that parents and health care providers should strongly promote and implement the concept of Kangaroo Care/skin-to-skin contact.

Covid-19 has disrupted the mental health services in 93% of the countries worldwide. Approximately 130 countries are affected catastrophically by Covid-19, which limits access to mental health services. Most vulnerable are children, pregnant women, and adults with limited access to mental healthcare. In highlighting the importance of mobilising resources, the WHO has given leaders around the world an opportunity to galvanise efforts. Maternal and children’s mental health are crucial factors that may have a lifelong impact. In a post-pandemic world, a renewed focus is required to develop sustainable policies and action plans to support new mothers and new-borns in the first 1,000 days of life. This viewpoint shares a reflective discourse on contextualising the need of investment in mental health in times of crisis and global pandemic and what needs to be catered to in the near future. Keywords: First 1,000 days of life, Maternal health, Women’s health.

This study aimed to learn about the climate change perspectives of parents. Convenience sampling was employed to collect the data from individuals who were attending the climate change and parenting seminar online. This survey was sent as a pre survey questionnaire and the data of the parents who consented were used. There was no significant difference found with respect to gender, age or qualification in the climate belief, whereas significant difference was found in intention with respect to gender, qualification, and socioeconomic status. Furthermore, the findings stipulated the mean of beliefs (μ =1.72 and SD= 0.92) and the average mean of (μ =3.36 and SD= 0.86) in the intentions of people regarding climate change related attitude. Whereas the participants intention towards not investing time in solving the environmental issue shows strong agreement (μ=4.22.). The findings of the study share the insights of providing training to the parents of young children, so that they can have better understanding of the climate responsiveness and can take relevant strategic actions to foster climate safety for their future generations.

The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously disrupted the educational process in every educational institution worldwide. Like many other countries, Pakistan has had to close schools and educational facilities twice over the past year to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: To determine early childhood school leader’s knowledge, attitude, practices schools reopening amidst Covid-19. Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted to examine Early Childhood School leaders' knowledge and practices related to COVID-19. The data were collected as part of an online survey of 154 school leaders from Karachi's Early Childhood Education (ECE) sector. Results: The knowledge constructs' overall mean score (right answers) was 6.8 with 1.3 standard deviations. Many respondents had misconceptions regarding the covid-19 virus's characteristics; only 70% of them are aware that the virus is not airborne. According to about 65% of the answers, the covid19 virus is not surface carried.  On the other hand, more than 90% of the respondents stated that the covid-19 virus spreads through respiratory droplets; consequently, an overwhelming majority (95%) expressed their concern about the transmission of covid19 in school. Nearly 3 out of 4 responders thought the school should continue to be closed. Conclusions: The study concludes that some proper training for school leaders regarding knowledge and practices of Covid-19 would help prepare them for safe school reopening. In addition, the majority of the school leaders showed a positive attitude towards school reopening amidst Covid-19.