The Significance and Effectiveness of Kangaroo Care for Premature Infants

Abstract

Kangaroo care maintains thermoregulation between infants and their mothers. This technique can also be called the human incubator method, reducing newborn morbidity and mortality at considerably lower costs of infrastructure or safe and reliable practicality for both health professionals and mothers. It has recently been revealed that kangaroo care helps to reduce mortality rates in preterm infants, stabilises heart rate, maintains body temperature, reduces the need for oxygen, positively affects weight gain and sleep duration, and assures early discharge. Kangaroo care also guarantees mother–infant commitment in the postnatal period. Despite the evidence for its reliability and efficiency, its practice still remains limited due to lack of qualified medical personnel and an inadequate care environment. Consequently, it can be suggested that primary care providers in newborn intensive care units promote kangaroo care practices by establishing an efficient care environment in order to improve medical results and enhance the care quality.

Keywords: Kangaroo care, premature newborn, neonatal intensive care unit, primary care, providers.