What is kangaroo mother care? Systematic review of the literature

Abstract

BackgroundKangaroo mother care (KMC), often defined as skin–to–skin contact between a mother and her newborn, frequent or exclusive breastfeeding, and early discharge from the hospital has been effective in reducing the risk of mortality among preterm and low birth weight infants. Research studies and program implementation of KMC have used various definitions. ObjectivesTo describe the current definitions of KMC in various settings, analyze the presence or absence of KMC components in each definition, and present a core definition of KMC based on common components that are present in KMC literature.MethodsWe conducted a systematic review and searched PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and the World Health Organization Regional Databases for studies with key words “kangaroo mother care”, “kangaroo care” or “skin to skin care” from 1 January 1960 to 24 April 2014. Two independent reviewers screened articles and abstracted data.FindingsWe screened 1035 articles and reports; 299 contained data on KMC and neonatal outcomes or qualitative information on KMC implementation. Eighty–eight of the studies (29%) did not define KMC. Two hundred and eleven studies (71%) included skin–to–skin contact (SSC) in their KMC definition, 49 (16%) included exclusive or nearly exclusive breastfeeding, 22 (7%) included early discharge criteria, and 36 (12%) included follow–up after discharge. One hundred and sixty–seven studies (56%) described the duration of SSC.ConclusionsThere exists significant heterogeneity in the definition of KMC. A large number of studies did not report definitions of KMC. Skin–to–skin contact is the core component of KMC, whereas components such as breastfeeding, early discharge, and follow–up care are context specific. To implement KMC effectively development of a global standardized definition of KMC is needed.

Kangaroo mother care for clinically unstable neonates weighing ≤2000 g: Is it feasible at a hospital in Uganda?

“…We hypothesised that these criteria would identify all ELBW neonates as unstable; however, it is possible that some administered therapies were not properly recorded in medical charts. There remains a need for an evidence-based approach to consistently define stability criteria in order to improve clinical care and facilitate research in this population [12,48].…”

Nurses’ Kangaroo Mother Care practice implementation and future challenges: an integrative review

“…One of these emerging developments is the Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC), which is intended to deliver quality care to term and preterm newborns . KMC promotes maternal bonding immediately after birth and during hospitalisation and significantly reduces the risk of neonatal mortality as compared to conventional newborn care in resource‐limited technology settings with little equipment .…”

Neonatal nurses’ knowledge and beliefs about kangaroo mother care in neonatal intensive care units: A descriptive, cross‐sectional study

“…SSC is the most essential component of KMC, but the other elements are contextual (Chan et al, ). SSC involves resting the stable preterm or low‐birth‐weight infant skin‐to‐skin on the mother's bare chest in a prone and upright position.…”

“…The literature lacks a clear definition of the optimal number and duration of sessions. A recent systematic review of the SSC literature reported significant variations in the length of SSC that ranged from 2 to 22 h per day (Chan et al, ).…”