Dr Bergman graduated from the University of Cape Town, and has worked in South Africa, Ciskei and, Sweden. as Medical Superintendent and District Medical Officer at Manama Mission, Zimbabwe, he and Midwife Agneta Jurisoo, developed and implemented Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) for premature infants. They began having mothers and their premature infants practice KMC from birth. What followed was a significant increase of survival of these low birth weight babies.
In 1995, Dr. Bergman brought KMC to South Africa. By the year 2000, KMC became the official policy for care of premature babies in the hospitals of the Western Cape province.