Kangaroo Care or Kangaroo Mother care (KMC), also known as skin-to-skin contact between the mother and the baby, plays important role in exclusive breastmilk feeding, reducing infection risk and early discharge of preterm neonates from the hospital and hence improves survival rates in low birth weight babies.
KMC is a technique of newborn care where babies are kept chest-to-chest and skin -to -skin with a parent typically their mother (occasionally their father). It is commonly used for all newborn babies especially, low birth weight preterm babies who are more likely to suffer from low body temperature, while admitted in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Kangaroo Care named for the similarity to how certain mammals carry their young infants was initially developed in 1970 to care for preterm infants in countries where incubators were either unavailable or unreliable. Subsequently, KMC became an evidence-based practice and is part of routine care for all newborn babies especially those who are less than 2000 grams. It can be done even for babies who are prematurely born with a weight of as low as 1000 grams or requiring any respiratory support.
How KMC helps the babies:
- Promotes exclusive and prolonged breastfeeding
- Promotes temperature care
- Decreases the incidence and severity of infection
- Shortens the length of stay in NICU(Neonatal Intensive Care Unit)
- Increased frequency and duration of quiet sleep
- Stimulates sensory system (see, smell, touch, and taste)
- Improves neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm neonates
How KMC helps the mother :
- Breast stimulation and hence improves milk production.
- Increases bonding between mother and child.
- Promotes “Zero Separation” between mother and child.
- Relieves maternal pain and postpartum depression.
Mothers wrap the baby in pallu or blouse so that baby keeps on sucking the empty breast. This is called Non-Nutritive Sucking (NNS), a technique where the preterm baby is put to the breast of the mother even when there is no active sucking or breast milk. Usually, NNS and KMC are practiced together. Breast milk pumps used in expressing milk every 2-3 hours help in the sustenance of breast milk.
A low birth weight baby has difficulty in sucking hence we cannot give direct breastmilk. Therefore, the breast milk is expressed and the empty breast is given to the baby’s mouth for NNS. For babies as small as 1.5-2kg and if the mother is confident, direct breastfeeding is encouraged.
KMC is widely practiced not only in tertiary care centers but also in villages across India.
For more queries, on Kangaroo Mother care and the importance of Rooming-in contact nitashabagga@gmail.com
