Kangroo mother care an evidence based strategy for improving neonatal outcomes in preterm babies

Abstract

 BACKGROUND:

Preterm birth is defined as delivery of fetus before 37 weeks of gestation. Kangaroo mother care is the practice of skin-to-skin contact between mother and neonates those delivered at less than 37weeks or weight less than 2.5kg with exclusive breast feeding. It is the most feasible and preferred intervention for decreasing neonatal morbidity and mortality especially for 3rd world countries where resources are limited. Despite its current efficacy, kangaroo care is not widely utilized due to several barriers including an absence of standardized protocols and a lack of knowledge about its benefits. We want to conduct this study to apply kangaroo mother care in local setting to improve our practice.

OBJECTIVE:

To compare the outcome of kangaroo mother care versus routine care in preterm neonates in terms of weight gain.

MATERIAL & METHODS:

In the present quasi-experimental study, 70 neonates each (140 in total) were taken who had preterm birth at the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Services Hospital, Lahore and given either kangaroo care or routine care for assessment of their weight gain over the period of time. All of the neonates were then observed and monitored. The weight was taken at intervals of 10 days, 6 weeks and 3 months period. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 25.0. Frequency and percentages and mean±SD were given as per type of variable. Independent sample t-test was applied for comparing means among the study groups and p-value <0.05 was taken as statistically significant.

RESULTS:

In our study, mean age was 26.11±4.86 years; Overall baseline body mass index was 24.82±3.48 kg/m², baseline birth weight was 1.97±0.235 kg, birthweight (10 days) was 1.88±0.253 kg and birthweight (6 weeks) were 2.03±0.49 kg and the birth weight at last follow up (3-months) was 2.44±0.691 kg/m². There was statistically significant difference regarding weight between the two groups (kangaroo care versus routine mother care) at 10 days (1.95±0.20 vs 1.81±0.28), at 6 weeks (2.31±0.25 vs 1.75±0.28) and at 3 months (2.93±0.38 vs 1.94±0.56) interval and last mean weight gain over this period (0.94±0.35 vs -0.009±0.50) (p<0.001). The same was seen that is p-value<0.05 when the groups were compared upon stratification on the basis of mother age and neonatal gender.

CONCLUSION:

Comparing the kangaroo mother care with that of routine care showed that kangaroo care was found to be superior in weight gain among pre-term neonates than routine mother care. The gender wise distribution of neonates also showed that kangaroo care was effective as compared to routine mother care in mean weight gain over the period of time.

Keywords:

Low Birth weight, Neonates, Kangaroo Mother Care, Routine Neonatal Care, Outcome.Birth weight, Neonates, Kangaroo Mother Care, Routine Neonatal Care, Outcome