Current Women's Health Reviews - Volume 7, Issue 3, 2011

The editor of the CWHR has the great pleasure to provide the readers and the medical community with an outstanding issue summarizing one of the most compelling interventions to save newborn lives in the world. This issue is being published at the same time that an updated review of the Cochrane Library provides evidence-based, conclusive support regarding the impact of the kangaroo mother care (KMC) intervention on Read More

THE PAST Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) began sometime during 1978, at the Instituto Materno Infantil (IMI) one of the largest maternity facilities at that time, in Bogota, Colombia. Its creators, E. Rey and colleagues were confronting problems generated mainly by overcrowding at their Neonatal Care Unit (NCU). Despite that there were numerous beds and incubators, the demand greatly exceeded the available slots. Preterm infa Read More

Background: The Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) method is a set of interventions for providing appropriate health care to preterm and/or low birth weight infants, based on the so-called kangaroo position (skin-to-skin contact). Since it was first described (Rey 1978) considerable variability has developed about: a) definition of the target population and of the therapeutic goals; b) time for starting skin-to-skin contact; c) continuit Read More

A comprehensive review of the evidence documenting preterm infant physiologic responses to Kangaroo Care (KC - intermittent skin-to-skin contact) and Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC - 24/7 skin-to-skin contact) has been conducted. Kangaroo Care's effects on preterm infant heart rate, bradycardia, respiratory rate, apnea, oxygen saturation, cerebral oxygenation, supplemental oxygen needs, oxygen consumption, desat Read More

The slow progress, indeed the ineffectiveness, in checking the rise in preterm births is undoubtedly partly due to the inaccuracy of predictive models, our focus on curative interventions, and the dearth of prevention strategies in this public health sector. Moreover, results from meta-analyses of observational studies concluded that premature or low birth weight subjects have cognitive deficits, poorer academic perfor Read More

Significant benefits on infant host defense, sensory-neural development, gastrointestinal maturation, and some aspects of nutritional status are observed when preterm infants are fed with their mothers' own milk. A reduction in infection-related morbidity in human milk-fed preterm infants has been reported. Studies on neuro-developmental outcomes have reported significantly positive effects for human milk intake on men Read More

Caring for preterm and low birth weight (LBW) newborns in neonatal care units (NCU) can overwhelm healthcare systems in both developed and developing countries. Ensuring intact survival and adequate growth until term gestation and/or appropriate size is reached before discharging a LBW to the home environment leads to overcrowding of NCUs. This system undoubtedly contributes to increased morbidity and mortalit Read More

In addition to exerting positive physiological and social effects on preterm infants, the Kangaroo Mother Care method also provides these infants with stimulation, which is similar to the multisensorial stimulation which the fetus receives in utero. Still, in high tech NICUs the application of KMC is typically restricted to limited periods of parentinfant skin-to-skin contact. The aim of this article is to describe practical guidelines for KM Read More

State-of-the-art Newborn Intensive Care Units (NICUs), instrumental in the survival of high-risk and everearlier- born preterm infants, often have costly human repercussions. The developmental sequelae of newborn intensive care are largely misunderstood. Developed countries eager to export their technologies must also transfer the knowledgebase that encompasses all high-risk and preterm infants' personhood as well Read More

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the feasibility, acceptability and outcome of Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) on low birth weight (LBW) infants, including morbidity and mortality related to prematurity. Methods: A longitudinal study of preterm infants in KMC at the Gabriel Toure University Hospital (CHU), Bamako, Mali. Data collected in the KMC unit using hospital and ambulatory records. Data entered withEpiInfo Read More

Community-based Kangaroo Mother Care (CKMC) was designed to be initiated immediately after birth in very low-income settings where most births occur at home, access to clinical care is limited and newborn mortality rates are high. The objectives of CKMC are to prevent hypothermia, some respiratory conditions, diarrhea and improve newborn nutrition. In these settings, babies are seldom weighed at birth and newbor Read More