An intimate interaction between mother and baby can help save lives.
A Harvard study showed that kangaroo mother care (KMC) can significantly decrease the risk of death among newborns with low birth weight.
The study is now available in the online version of Pediatrics on Wednesday.
KMC began in 1978 in Bogota, Colombia. It was then devised as an alternative to incubators, a machine used to stimulate the womb environment and used by preterm infants.
In KMC, the baby, who is normally wearing nothing except for a blanket or a piece of clothing to cover the back, as well as a diaper, is held in an upright position and placed very closely to the mother's bare chest for many hours during the day. Sometimes to improve the skin-to-skin contact further, the baby is placed underneath the mother's shirt, very much like the way kangaroos carry their babies in their "pouches."
The process is described as continuous, which may last for several days, and performed over long periods, like hours.
For the meta analysis, the Harvard team led by Dr Ellen Boundy used studies and clinical trials up to April 2014, focusing on the link between neonatal outcomes for high-risk babies, like those born in preterm or with low birth weight, and KMC. Out of the more than a thousand studies, 124 of them met their criteria.
Their results suggested that KMC reduced the risk of infant death by as much as 36% among those with low birth weight or less than 2,000 grams upon birth. In the same study, they also noted that KMC reduced other possible infant risks such as hypothermia, sepsis, and hypoglycemia. It also decreased hospital readmission while increased the likelihood of exclusive breastfeeding. Mothers are encouraged to carry out exclusive breastfeeding-that is, feeding the baby with breast milk only-within the first six months. Breastfeeding can be combined with infant milk after six months to two years.
It's explained that KMC can help improve the overall "physiologic regulation," which boosts the baby's survival.
