Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) is a type of care for babies that involves long skin-to-skin contact and was discovered in a meta-study analysis to lower mortality rates among newborns with lower birth weights. This type of infant care is different from breastfeeding, but involves the baby's and mother's bare chests being in contact.
The research was conducted by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston. It is scheduled to be published in the journal Pediatrics.
Researchers examined 124 studies, while 15 of them evaluated newborns with lower birth weights. It was discovered that KMC resulted in 36 percent lower mortality rate than conventional care.
Co-author Grace J. Chan works at Boston Children's Hospital. She explained that the goal of the study was to provide evidence that KMC can improve newborns' health and survival in certain situations, according to MedPageToday.
KMC also provided other health benefits. The "kangaroo care" also helped to reduce infant morbidity, and resulted in 47 percent lower risk of sepsis (harmful bacteria in infections) and 78 percent lower risk of hypothermia.
Chan shared that the World Health Organization (WHO) includes KMC in its pre-term guidelines for babies with weights under 2 kilograms. However, KMC is not used often throughout the world.
She explained that one big issue is using KMC correctly in different settings. This helps to makes the newborn care as effective as possible.
Scientists are not sure why kangaroo care gives low-weight infants a better chance of surviving. However, one theory is that the skin-to-skin contact helps maintain a healthy body temperature, and encourages the baby to breast feed, according to Reuters.
Here are some guidelines for 'kangaroo care':